Tony sat at his desk working on his computer trying to ignore the little pop-up window to the right on the screen. It flashed showing that he had received new e-mails. He sighed as he forced himself to check the inbox and the sight made him really uncomfortable.
20 new e-mails, all from "J" and had the same headline: "Sorry".
Tony deleted them all without opening any of them while he was thinking about what he should do about Jared. He had to do something because this was getting creepy but what could he do?
A little voice inside his head told him that he should talk to Gibbs about it, but really what could Gibbs do? And would he even care?
Tony had a nightmare version of what Gibbs would do if he came running to him with his personal love life and it wasn't pretty. He could see Gibbs looking at him with distaste and disapprovment. He let out another sigh and turned back to the computer to concentrate on his work in front of him.
"What are you sighing about, pretty boy?" Abby asked with a smile that grew concerned as she saw the fine lines that indicated tiredness a thing you almost would see on Tony, around his eyes.
"Oh, hey Abs." Tony said with a smile. "Nothing really. Just hate paperwork you know."
Abby looked at him clearly unconvinced as she leaned across the desk to whisper in his ear:
"You can't fool me, babe." She leaned back a little. "You know that you can talk to me about anything….."
"Thanks Abs." Tony leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me. I'm a grown man and can take care of myself."
"I know that you are an adult but I worry about you anyway, pretty boy." Abby kissed him on the cheek and became serious. "Has Jared bothered you again?"
"Abby, I…"
"Don't lie to me, Tony." Abby looked him straight in the eyes. "I would die if anything happened to you."
"Take it easy, Abs." Tony said calmly, hearing the distress in her voice and he felt like he had to tell her something. "There where an incident in the garage yesterday…"
"What happened?" Abby asked when Tony fell silent. "You know that you can trust me."
"I know, Abs." Tony looked at her, a feeling that lightened his heavy heart made him feel really glad that they were so good friends. "We can talk about it later, after work?"
"Sure, I'll come up later and we can by some beer and pizza." Abby said kissing him on the cheek before walking away.
Gibbs watched Abby and Tony from his hiding place just outside the bullpen, their heads close together as they whispered to each other, looking almost like they were at high school and sharing secrets. He wondered what it was about, he knew that something was up with Tony and he wanted to help but didn't want to make Tony uncomfortable.
Gibbs loved to watch the young man but the desire to do more than watch grew stronger every day. He wanted to touch, to feel, smell and hear Tony's breathing up close, prefarly in a bed.
Shaking his head, trying to clear his head a little, Tony wouldn't want him. He was too old and the second B did stand for bastard. He sighed to himself as he walked over to his own desk.
"Let's go, cutie!" Abby said as she sat down on Tony's desk. "I'm craving for a beer and some alone time with you."
Tony looked up at her and smiled, he grabbed his things and they walked out of the bullpen towards the elevators. McGee and Ziva had left 15 minutes ago and Gibbs was down at the morgue talking to Ducky.
They stepped out of the elevator talking to each other about the last time they had gone clubbing. They made their way towards Tony's car when someone grabbed Tony's arm.
"Tony, we need to talk."
Abby turned around and saw Jared standing, holding her friends arm in hard grip.
"Let him go." She said in a threating voice as she moved towards the two men.
"Abby, stay away." Tony said not wanting her to get hurt. "Jared, I told you to leave me alone."
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm really sorry about yesterday." Jared said not looking at Abby but still holding Tony's arm. "You know that I never wanted to hurt you."
"Did he hit you, again?" Abby asked in a high pitched voice as she looked at Tony, the worry clear in her eyes.
"Abs…" Tony started but was interrupted when Jared took a step closer towards her while saying:
"Don't talk to him like that and don't assume that I hurt him." Jared glared at Abby with dark eyes.
"Jared, don't." Tony said in a hard voice as he pushed Abby behind, placing himself between them ready to protect her in case Jared went mental again. "I told you to leave me alone."
"Maybe but then you promised me not to talk to the Director so I think that you do want me around. Maybe you are playing hard to get." Jared said with a smile as he turned back to Tony and started to get closer.
"Jared, I don't want you." Tony said as he wrenched his armed out of Jared's grip.
"But, Tony…" Jared whined, sounding like a small child.
"No, Jared." Tony turned his back to the blond man, ushered Abby into his car and they drove away.
Abby looked thru the back window of the car, seeing Jared still standing and looking at them then she turned to look at Tony.
"Tony…" She started to say, she was feeling very uneasy and worried.
"Abs, please. I can't do it now. Wait until we get to my place." Tony said as he gripped the steering wheel hard, trying to keep his hands from shaking. The fine lines around his eyes showing and his voice sounded really tired.
"Sure, cutie." Abby said, leaning back to look out the window. Unconsciously she grabbed Tony's hand that wasn't on the wheel and she held it the whole ride.
Tony glanced at her, a small smile showing on his face and he squeezed her hand a little and the rest of the ride went in a comfortable silence.
They made their way up the stairs to Tony's apartment, he unlocked the door and they went in. Abby caught Tony's longing glance towards the bathroom, she grabbed his hand and said.
"Grab a shower, meanwhile I'll order the pizzas."
Tony looked at her gratefully and he made his way to the bathroom. Then he stripped, turned on the shower and stepped under the water. He loved the feeling of the hot water running down his body and he lost himself.
Abby grabbed the phone and called the pizza delivery place, then she busied herself with getting the beers and plates out trying not to think about the incident to much. But she had to admit that she was worried about Tony.
The doorbell rang, it was the pizza delivery guy, she paid him and set things up. Then she went to the bathroom door and knocked on it.
"The pizza's are here." She said thru the door.
"I'll be out in a minute Abs." Tony's muffled voice said thru the door and she walked back to the kitchen.
Tony stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel and made his way to his bedroom. He dried himself and grabbed a pair of sweatpants. He and Abby knew each other so well so he didn't bother to put on a shirt and made his way into the kitchen.
"Boy, it smells good." He said and Abby turned to him with a smile on her face that disappeared as she laid her eyes on him.
"Did he do that to you yesterday?" She asked vehemence clear in her voice.
At first Tony looked at her dumbly, then he remembered the bruises and he closed his eyes as he berated himself on how stupid he was for not putting on a shirt. But his thoughts were interrupted when Abby carefully laid her arms around his waist and hugged him very gently.
After a few minutes Abby let him go and she looked up at him.
"I think the pizzas are getting cold."
"I think you are right, Abs."
They sat down and started eating, talking around the subject of Jared none of them wanted to spoil their appetite. Then they cleared the table, grabbed their beer bottles and made their way into the living room.
"Does it hurt?" Abby asked as she looked at him, her eyes trailing the bruise on his upper body.
"Not much. Have been thru worse." Tony said as he leaned back and seemed to sink into the big comfortable sofa.
"You have to tell Gibbs." Abby said, looking him in the eyes.
"I don't know." Tony said, looking away. "I'm sure that he doesn't want to hear about my ex-boyfriend gone bad."
"He cares about you more than you think, Tony. If you don't tell him I'll before it's too late, who knows what Jared would do. That man is really scary."
"It's just so…." Tony said as he looked at Abby. "So embarrassing. I have fought bigger and meaner guys but Jared makes me feel so…"
"Scared shitless?" Abby continued for him, thinking about when she was stalked. (The bloodbath episode) "I know, Tony but you can't do this alone."
"But I have a gun, I'm trained in handling violent people." Tony said feeling lost.
"You can't think so, Jared is a psycho and I think that if he was after Gibbs, the bossman would be afraid."
"Abs…" Tony said disbelief clear on his face. "Gibbs is never afraid of anyone."
"Maybe but I can promise you that he is afraid of loosing you and if something other than big beat up by a man twice the size of you, I promise you that he would blame himself and so would I."
"Thanks, Abby." Tony pulled her a little closer and hugged her, glad that she was his friend.
"So you will tell him tomorrow?"
"We will see." Tony's said his eyelids dropping.
"Promise me." Abby said but when she did get an answer she looked up at Tony who had fallen asleep. "I promise you that I would anything to stop Jared from hurting you again."
She yawed, laid her head down on Tony's chest minding the bruise and she fell asleep also.
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks SO much for all your reviews and support!
Sorry that it took so long to update but I'm trying so bare with me.
I hope you like it still!
Sorry that it took so long to update but I'm trying so bare with me.
I hope you like it still!