Jealous
Disclaimer: I own no part of this show or any of the characters.
Eric wanted to bang his head against the wall as he watched her read the text that had just come thru. Nell might have thought she was being sneaky but he could tell by the look on her face who the text was from. Every time she got one of his texts her entire body flushed a becoming shade of pink and her eyes started to sparkle.
It wasn't that he wasn't happy for her, if anyone deserved to be happy it was Nell. After the first few awkward days in the OPS center they had bonded in their shared geekiness, becoming best friends. There had been many nights spent watching movies and playing video games until one or both of them fell asleep on the couch.
Even now that she was in a relationship (though she wouldn't admit it) Nell always found time for him. But it wasn't enough; it would never be enough to just be a friend always on the outside looking in at someone else's relationship.
He didn't kid himself that no one had noticed how jealous he was of Nell's new boyfriend. Of course he didn't think anyone else knew exactly who her boyfriend was; the only reason he had figured it out was because of his superior computer skills. Yes he had hacked into her cell phone account once he had seen the signs she had exhibited of dating. Yes he knew that he had technically committed a crime, but he had to make sure she wasn't dating a creep.
Imagine his surprise to find all those calls between Nell's phone and a certain Senior Agents private phone. Once he had that information it was easy to spot the sizzling looks between the two; to notice how Callen always stood beside Nell in briefings, to see the occasional quick touches of hands when they thought no one was looking. Perhaps he had even gone so far as to check the GPS locations on both of their phones a couple of times, not surprised when both pinged from the same location, usually Nell's apartment but sometimes Callen's house.(Maybe he would make a better agent than he thought).
The big thing that no one understood was that he wasn't jealous of Nell having a boyfriend that wasn't him, he was jealous that she had a boyfriend (oh who was he kidding, she had a red hot lover) and he didn't. But most of all hewas jealous that it was Callen.
Eric had never tried to hide that he was gay; maybe he hadn't made a public announcement about it to the team but why should he? No one else announced their sexual preferences so why should he? Big deal, he liked boys, especially boys with electric blue eyes and compact muscular bodies.
Now he knew Callen wasn't gay, he had known the man for over five years and had seen him attract beautiful women (mostly tall, leggy blondes) effortlessly when they all went out for drinks. (Which was another reason the Nell/Callen thing had so surprised him.) But that didn't stop the feelings he had always had for the senior agent.
It had started out as hero worship of the legend that was G. Callen; after working with him for a while it had turned into something else. In Eric's experience most guys like Callen had little time or patience with a geek like him, sure they liked the information he was able to get them but none had ever taken the time to get to know him as a person. Generally most of the agents he had worked with at NCIS had dismissed him as soon as they walked away, if anything making a joke at his expense.
But Callen was different; he had always included Eric when the team went out for drinks, there had even been a few occasions when the older man had joined him in catching a few waves. Plus there was the way he let Eric know how much he helped them on missions, that he provided an invaluable service to the agents out in the field. Eric was pretty sure that Callen knew he was gay though he never mentioned it.
So eventually the hero worship had morphed into something else; he had found his self becoming more and more attracted to the senior agent. The intelligence Callen displayed, his ability to always come up with a plan on a moment's notice, the loyalty he had for his entire team. Not to mention how physically attractive the man was with those searing blue eyes, the deceptively muscular body and that sexy mouth that was just made you want to trace its outline with your tongue. (Nope he wasn't going there) The day he had walked into the men's locker room while Callen was changing clothes would forever be imprinted on his brain. The sight of that tanned sculpted body with rivulets of water running over his toned chest before soaking into the plush white towel wrapped around his waist had caused him to come to a dead stop, blush furiously red before he turned and fled the room.
Even then, when so many others would have made a sharp comment to him or else avoided him Callen hadn't. He had made a point to find Eric and talk to him as if nothing had happened, not mentioning the embarrassing incident.
So he would keep his feelings locked down, hoping that someday they would disappear and be happy for his best friend. And who knew, maybe at some point in the future he would find the right person for himself.