Runaway

                                    

                                          
Gibbs x Fem!Reader
Summary: When a proposal to his girlfriend Y/N goes the exact wrong direction, Jethro has to grapple with his hurt feelings and bruised ego while also trying to make sure the love of his life is okay. 
TW- past abuse (not Gibbs), abusive parent, divorce, fear of marriage, bruises, violence, guns, angst, illusions to sex but no actual content.
********************
In a quiet romantic restaurant, the candles flickered softly as Gibbs nervously fidgeted with the small velvet box in his pocket. He had been planning this moment for weeks, wanting everything to be just perfect when he popped the question to his girlfriend, Y/N.

The string quartet positioned on the stage in the corner started up yet another recognizable tune, slowed down to mimic a romance song. Y/N had gone against the norm and opted to shift her chair so she could be beside Jethro instead of across the table from him. This allowed the pair to hold each other's non-dominant hand while eating silently with the other. Gibbs' large left hand ruled in comparison to Y/N's right one, her small hands having been a constant point of mockery in her childhood. 

I had taken Jethro quite a long time to get used to the fact that, for once, he had a partner who didn't see the need to fill silence with idle blabbering. Y/N had alwaus been such a quite person, only speaking up at work or when she absolutely had to share something. It had also been hart for Gibbs to get used to the fact that Y/N's love language was physical touch. She needed dto feel how he hugged, kissed, held and otherwise touched her to gage if he were upset with her in any way. 

The constant physical contact acted as Y/N's way of knowing for sure that her boyfriend wasn't mad at her. If he ever forgot to kiss her goodnight when he came home, or didn't at least hug her, she would assume she was bei g punished for some random transgression. But, Y/N had adapted well to his own needs and love language so, the least he could do was try to do the same. 
As dessert arrived, Gibbs took a deep breath and, mustering up all his courage, got down on one knee.

"Y/N, will you marry me?" he asked, his heart racing with anticipation.

Y/N's eyes widened in shock, tears welling up in her eyes. But instead of the joyous response he had hoped for, she jumped up from her seat and ran out of the restaurant, leaving Gibbs stunned and confused.

For weeks, Gibbs tried to contact the love of his life, calling her repeatedly and sending trying like hell to get his technologically impaired seft to be able to emote properly over text messaging. But all he heard was silence in return, leaving him feeling lost and heartbroken. When calls failed, the viocemail box sent the full message, and he had sent over a hundred texts with various mistakes and missing letters, Gibbs did the one thing he knew would at least gr to her no matter what. He emailed her work a count using his own. With home both working inthe federal government, him as NCIS her at the CIA, it was never an option to not have email notifications on. 

It wasn't until a chance encounter at the grocery store with Y/N's aging mother that the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. In a tearful confession, Collette revealed the dark truth about hers and her daughter's past.

Right there in the frozen entrees aisle, Collette explained that Y/N's childhood had been marred by her father's controlling and abusive behavior. For the first five years of her life, he had been sweet and loving, tkaong her to her softball games and gynmastics practices, spendingntomenwirh her lounging on the couch, helping her with her color recognition wheen her hereditary coloe blindness made pre-k homework hard. But as soon as her parents had enough money for the wedding, they got married when she was in kindergarten. He had turned into a monster, controlling every aspect of her life. She no longer was allowed to 'waste time' watching the TV. She was made to chose between gymnastics and softball. And, since she chose softball, he used that as a way to 'cover up' all the bruises and marks he left on her growing up.