Gamut

Tony stared in shock at the building Gibbs turned into the parking lot for while Gibbs started looking for a parking space. He had thought about taking girlfriends here before, but never imagined it would be Gibbs scene. “Uh, Jethro?” Tony asked questioningly. “Is this what I think it is?”

Putting the car into park, Gibbs got out of the car and walked around to Tony’s door. Opening the door, he replied. “Come see.”

Tony got out and followed Jethro as he made his way to the building where the ballet would be performed. His emotions had really run the gamut on this date. He started out nervous before he arrived at the restaurant. Then he switched to worry that the team had been called in or that they were playing a prank on him. Then they went back to nervous as Jethro led him into the restaurant with a touch of sadness that he couldn’t be as open as Jethro was being.

When Jethro held his hand, he couldn’t help feeling wonder and then happiness as Jethro made him laugh with his poor attempt at small talk. But he had to admit no one could make him feel as much as Jethro did and that so far this had been the best date he’s ever had despite or because of the gamut of emotions he’s felt.

As they walked to the door of what Tony suspected was a ballet, Tony held out his hand to Jethro who took it and held it threading their fingers together. Inside Jethro paid for two tickets to the ballet and they then proceeded to find seats.

Sitting back and relaxing, Tony leaned against Jethro as much as he could get away with in these seats. Whispering to Jethro, he stated. “I didn’t know you liked the ballet.”

Jethro whispered back. “I figured you did since you were trying to get tickets to the ballet for that one girl you were trying to impress. Plus I’ve been here before with Shannon and Kelly. Not often. The war kept me away from them too often, but we did manage to come here once on one of my furloughs in the US in between deployments.”

Tony would have responded, but the music signifying the intro of the ballet started up and he lost himself in a world of music and dance still happily holding Gibbs hand the whole time.

Gibbs didn’t get as absorbed in the ballet as Tony did, so he kept sneaking peeks at Tony content at the obvious happiness he saw on Tony’s face.

During the intermission, they got up and wandered around still holding hands except for a quick break when they had to use the restroom. Neither of them were hungry, so they mostly looked at the photographs on the wall of previous performances and performers before returning to their seat for the rest of the ballet.

As the final scene of the ballet drew to a close and the performers were bowing and people were clapping heavily, Tony turned to Gibbs and muttered a soft “Thanks.” that could barely be heard above the crowd.

Smiling Gibbs, released Tony’s hand so that they could participate in the clapping for a good performance. He immediately grabbed it again and led the way out of the ballet as people started filing out.

“Where to now, Jethro?” Tony asked as they climbed into Gibbs car, reminding himself not to call him boss since this was a date.

“I thought I’d drop you back at your car and we’d head home since we both have work tomorrow.”

“What? No good night kiss? No sex?” Tony wiggled his eyebrows in what he thought was a sexy manner.

“My door is always unlocked. “ Gibbs replied starting the car and heading back to the restaurant where Tony’s car was.

Gibbs parked his car next to Tony’s as the parking lot was practically empty at this time of night. Tony climbed out of Gibbs car and headed to his. Gibbs quickly followed grabbing Tony and turning him around giving him a quick kiss on the lips before stepping back. Gibbs didn’t want Tony to think this was just about sex.

Tony blinked in surprise at the quick kiss before grabbing Gibbs neck and pulling him into a much deeper kiss. As he released Gibbs, he asked. “What was that for?”

“A good night kiss with no expectations, Tony.” Gibbs smiled slightly not at all bothered by the deeper kiss. Leaving Tony to think about what that might mean, Gibbs walked back to his car and headed home.

Tony stared after him slightly confused. He’d dated men before. In some ways men were easier. They were straight forward none of the games about how long you waited for sex or what was expected. He’d never had a man not push for sex at the end of a date. So he wasn’t at all sure what to make of Gibbs offer or lack thereof. However, he did know one thing, he didn’t want to be late to work. He doubted Gibbs would excuse his lateness even if they were dating. With that in mind, he headed to his apartment to think and sleep.