NEVER WILL BE
By
Ashleigh Anpilova
Gibbs comes to tell Ducky it's over.
An established relationship story.
Written: September 2008. Word count: 450.
"Jethro." He is both happy and saddened to see his lover standing on his doorstep.
He knows why he is there.
He knows what he has come to say.
And it is the right thing. It really is.
It has to be thus.
He knows it does.
But it still hurts.
"Hey, Duck." The look on Jethro's face mirrors what he knows must be on his own.
"Come in, my dear," he says, as he opens the door a little further.
"Duck -"
He silences his lover by putting his fingers on his lips, before replacing them with his mouth.
After several blissful, poignant, painful moments he takes Jethro's hand and leads him up to his bed.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER
"It's over, Duck. It has to be. You know that, don't you?"
"Yes, my dear," he says, keeping his voice low and his tone as free from pain as he possibly can.
"It's not that I don't love you. I do. I love you so damn much. But -"
"Hush, Jethro. I understand. You have a wife and a daughter. It is right that it is over. It is proper. It is how it should be. I should have sent you away a long time ago."
Jethro shook his head. "It's not right, Duck. But it has to be. I don't want it. I don't want to leave you. But I have to."
"I know."
"We can still be friends, can't we?"
He smiles. "Of course we can." He hopes he speaks the truth. He wants his words to be true, but he is not certain. He is not certain that being friends with the man he loves so much it hurts, the man he loves above everything and everybody - even his own life - is going to be possible. Not when he will still want, still love, still need him so very, very much. But he will try, because for Jethro not to be a part of his life is unimaginable.
Jethro pulls him into his arms and buries his face in his hair; he can feel the warm wetness. "I will always love you, Duck," he whispers.
And then, before he can return the sentiment, Jethro has gone.
SEVERAL DAYS LATER
"Jethro." He is shaken by the appearance of his ex-lover standing on his doorstep.
"I was wrong, Duck."
"Jethro?"
"It isn't over. It never will be."
The look on Jethro's face mirrors what he knows must be on his own.
He closes his eyes for a moment. "Come in, my dear," he says just a little sadly, for he knows now that Jethro has spoken the truth.
It, they, will never be over. They cannot be.
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