Lockers and Love

Chapter Nine

Lunch went by fast. Abby and Tim worked on their remaining homework from Physics and AP Literature. Tony was showing Ziva more about her phone, seeing as she only knew how to text and call. He showed her all the features in the settings. When the bell rang, they threw their trash away and walked to their next classes. Tony and Ziva headed towards the gym while Tim and Abby headed towards Algebra Honors.

Yesterday, Gym class was awful. Today, Tony hoped it would go better as he cleared some things up with Ziva and now he could really talk to her and show her around. They split off again and headed to the separate locker rooms. Like yesterday, Tony got dressed fairly quickly. He caught the glares that were sent into his direction, but he didn't care. Jackson and his buddies left him alone today, something that Tony was grateful for. He tied his shoes and left the locker room. Surprisingly, Ziva was standing outside the bathroom next to the gym. He smiled at her gym wear and made his way over to her.

Ziva sensed his presence and looked up to see his green eyes looking at her. More importantly, she saw his eyes rake her frame. Something that sent a shiver down her spine. She liked to have his attention. Something that she never really had before. Especially from a guy. Not to mention a very handsome guy. She practically melted on the inside when he would smile at her, something that he was doing now. She had never felt this way about someone, ever. After her father and brother died, she told herself to never get close to anyone, well except family. Then when her sister died, she promised herself she would never get too close to anybody ever again. She didn't want to go through the heartbreak of someone leaving or dying. She had enough of that in her life. She wanted something permanent. That couldn't be taken away from her. But Tony was breaking through that revelation. Breaking through to her heart and that terrified her. Her smile slightly lowered as she realized what was happening. She was letting him in way too quickly. Letting him in at all.

As Tony was walking towards her, her smile faltered. Thoughts rang through his head as he thought of what he could've done. What somebody must have told her. He couldn't think of anything else that would make her angry with him. He was less than 3 feet to her when he spoke.

"What's wrong?" His eyes were filled with concern. Ziva snapped out of her stupor and looked at him with raised eyebrows. How could he tell something was wrong? Nobody could ever see that because she had always hidden it so well.

"Nothing." He could tell she was lying. Something was bothering her. Did it have to do with him? Was he being an idiot again? Did one of his other flings come up and talk to her about him?

"Ziva. Something's wrong. I can tell. You might not want to talk about it, but your eyes won't shut up." He knew it somewhat sounded cheesy but it was true. Her eyes were filled with emotion. Filled with what looked to be sadness and...fear? What was she afraid of? Was she afraid of him?

'No way! This is Ziva. The same girl that kicked the shit out of Slacks. There's no way she's scared of me. So what's bothering her?' Different thoughts wouldn't leave him alone. What was going on with her?

"It is nothing, Tony. Let us just get cooled down for gym." She turned to walk away when Tony gently grabbed her arm, making her turn around and face him. He was having deja vu from yesterday when he had pulled the same move.

"You can trust me, Ziva. I would never hurt you." Tears breached Ziva's eyes. No! She wouldn't cry. She was better than this. Crying was a weakness. She was not weak. Never had been and never will be. She won't cry just because he showed genuine care for her. She felt that she was falling for him. Something that absolutely terrified her. She wouldn't let that out. Even if it killed her.

"I will tell you later." She didn't know if that was actually true. She might do a revised version to the real thing, but more than likely shake it off like it never happened. Tony gave her a suspicious look, telling her through his eyes that he didn't believe her. He nodded anyway and she sighed in relief. They entered the gym together and all eyes went on them, more precisely on Ziva. Jeanne's group was standing in the corner, glaring at them. They were standing closer than "friends" normally would. They didn't care and they moved to the other side of the gym, ignoring the many looks that were cast their way. They stood in the opposite corner and Tony moved to block Ziva from the mean looks. He didn't know why but whenever somebody did something to her, rage filled inside of him. Fear that she would be taken from him, even though they were just bullies in High School.