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Title: He's So Unusual
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Jimmy Palmer/Tim McGee
Fandom: NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Jimmy Palmer or Tim McGee, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.***
Tim waved at his colleagues as he headed for the elevator, more than ready to get out of work for the weekend and spend some time with his boyfriend. Just the thought of Jimmy made his heart beat faster and brought a smile to his face.
How long had they been together now? Only a couple of months, but it felt as though he'd been in love with Jimmy Palmer all of his life. He could barely remember a time when his boyfriend hadn't been the center of his life, the sun he revolved around.
Just thinking about Jimmy could bring a smile to his face; he had to be careful not to look at his boyfriend too much when he and Ducky came to their crime scenes to examine bodies there. If he did look at Jimmy, he knew that he might give himself away.
Was his heart in his eyes every time he looked at his boyfriend? Tim was almost sure that it was; he was surprised that his colleagues hadn't picked up on his feelings for the other man. He was positive that he couldn't hide those feelings for much longer.
But he had to, he thought as he pushed the button on the elevator and waited for it to arrive. They had to be careful; they couldn't afford to let anyone they worked with know that they were a couple. Their jobs might be at risk if they did.
He hated that, and he knew that Jimmy did, too. But for now, they had to deal with the situation as it was. It annoyed them both that they couldn't be open and honest about their relationship, but they both knew that at this point, it was for the best.
Would it have been possible for him to keep working with Jimmy and not have fallen in love with him? Tim didn't think so; their attraction had been more natural than anything else he'd ever felt. And it had also been much stronger than any feeling he'd ever had before.
There was just something about Jimmy that drew him, something that he couldn't define in words or put his finger on. It was some quality that came from within, something that made him more comfortable with the other man than he could have dreamed of being.
Maybe it was because Jimmy was such an unusual person, Tim mused, leaning against the wall and losing himself in his thoughts. Some people might call him odd, but Tim thought he was perfect. Well, all right, maybe not perfect. But perfect for him.
Who else but Jimmy would understand his addiction to video games? Who else would understand his jokes -- and actually laugh at them? How could he have ever thought that anybody other than Jimmy could be all that his boyfriend was to him?
The things that made Jimmy seem strange to other people were the qualities that endeared him to Tim. He never wanted his boyfriend to change; he loved Jimmy exactly the way he was. If he changed anything about himself, then he wouldn't be the man Tim had fallen for.
He didn't think that Jimmy would change; they had talked about their mutual attraction, and they had both come to the conclusion that they loved each other for who they were. Neither of them needed to try to be more conventional.
What would be the use of that? he thought with a smile. He and Jimmy would never be run-of-the-mill, conventional people, even if they tried. There was really no use in attempting it, because neither of them really knew how to be just like everyone else.
Oh, he had tried that when he was younger, Tim recalled, wincing at the memories. He had tried to act as though he enjoyed the same things that other people did, but he'd never been very good at it. He had finally realized that he had to be himself.
Once he had done that, he'd really become comfortable with who he was. It didn't matter that hardly any people he met seemed to understand him -- at least, not people that he wanted to be involved with. That is, not until that day in the park with Jimmy.
Why had he never realized just how well he and this man fit together, in all the time that they had been working with each other? Probably because Jimmy had been engaged for a while -- and he hadn't come to terms with the fact that he was so attracted to a man.
If that attraction had been to anyone other than Jimmy, it might have taken him much longer to realize the fact, Tim told himself. But it had felt completely natural to fall for Jimmy -- even though it had taken him a while to get used to the fact that he was in love.
Who cared what anyone else thought about their feelings for each other? It wasn't other people who really mattered, but only themselves. They didn't hurt anyone by caring for each other; it wasn't as though they had some kind of disease that was going to spread.
Tim couldn't help wondering how many other men they worked with were gay, and who were hiding their true feelings behind a mask that they might feel they had to wear for all of their lives. He felt sorry for them; he wouldn't have wanted to live like that.
So they risked the disapproval of everyone they worked with -- and even their families. Did it really matter? He didn't think so, not as long as he had Jimmy in his life, in his arms, and in his heart. Nothing else really mattered to him other than what they felt for each other.
He didn't care how other people saw him -- or how they saw Jimmy. Others might think that the two of them were unusual, but that was one of the things that had made him fall so deeply in love with the other man -- the fact that he wasn't like anyone else.
If Jimmy had been like most of the other men he worked with, there would probably have been nothing more between them than friendship. Try as he might, Tim couldn't see himself being attracted to Tony -- much less so to Gibbs, or any other of the men around the office.
But Jimmy was different. There had been something between them right from the start; those feelings had been so strong that Tim had been afraid of them at first. It was only during that day in the park, talking to Jimmy, that they had finally come out, front and center.
And he was glad they had, he told himself with a smile. If they hadn't, then he might still be alone, having these vague yearnings that he didn't quite understand, wondering if he would ever find the person who he was meant to spend the rest of his life with.
That person was Jimmy. He knew that now, and he wasn't going to lose sight of that fact. His boyfriend was rare and unusual, the most special person he'd ever known. And he was going to hold on to the man he loved with all of his heart and soul, for all of their lives.
When the elevator doors opened, Tim stepped into it with a smile on his face, his thoughts full of the man he loved. Within a few minutes, he would be meeting Jimmy, and they would go home together, to spend the weekend locked away in their own private world.***