They were at his place, sacked out on the sofa after a round or twenty of Mario Kart, when he asked her the question again.
"What do you think about Deeks and Kensi?"
Nell sighed. "You really want to know what I think, Eric?"
"Yes, Rockstar." Eric got the feeling she was almost afraid to tell him.
"I think they're trying to cross their frozen lake too fast."
The pair sat in silence for a moment. "Do you have one?" Eric finally asked.
"Have a what?"
"A frozen lake."
Nell nodded slowly. "Sure do." She forced herself to choke down the thousand different emotions racing to her brain.
Eric slowly turned to face her. "I think…we share a frozen lake."
Nell looked straight into his eyes. "I think you're right, Beale. We found someone whose weirdness was compatible with ours…"
"…and we fell into this mutual weirdness…"
"…that we can't, or won't, call love."
Eric leaned back and studied the paint drips on his ceiling as if they were the most interesting thing he had seen all day. As always, she gave a voice to what he wasn't willing to admit. After a minute, he asked, "So how would you do it? How would you cross that frozen lake?"
"Slowly. Carefully. Kensi and Deeks went for instant gratification. They went for what they wanted now, with little or no thought about the future. I don't want that, Eric."
"What do you want?" he asked gently.
"I want you. I want 100 percent of you, forever. I don't want instant gratification, and then instant heartbreak later. I don't want friends with benefits; I don't want a boyfriend. I want always. Permanent."
Eric gently took her hand.
Nell met his gaze, and he could see the myriad of thoughts swirling behind her eyes. "You're the first boy I kissed, Eric," she stated finally, "and I want you to be the last."
Eric tried to find the words for the million different feelings that rushed his heart. "Nell Jones, Rockstar, Unnonoctium, you are an amazing person. I cannot imagine my life without you, and I want to call this amazingly compatible mutual weirdness of ours what it is." He swallowed hard and cupped her cheek in his hand, his thumb tracing each of her freckles. "I'm in love with you, Nell, and I want to marry you…so I can kiss you anytime I want."
And he did. Slowly, gently, as if he had all the time in the world.
He hoped to goodness he did.
A/N: Reviews, please! The first couple of people who review, and include the name of the movie Nell and then Eric quoted, get to prompt me for a N/E scene that will either be a one-shot or get incorporated into "From One LA to the Other".
A/N Update: "Star", you can leave your prompt in a comment or PM me.