A/N: KNOCK, KNOCK. Alright, so this is my first try at a NCIS: LA story. I've been watching the show for years now, but I somehow didn't have the inspiration before. But at the moment my muse has a crush on this show.

I also recently started RPing in this fandom on twitter (Nell Jones: UnunoctiumOreo; OC Leona Beale: BrilliantBeaut). My Nell's Tumblr is Ununoctium118.

KTF CLM

Of Wishing and Watching

„Leo! Come on! Our plane arrives in an hour. This trip was your idea! And now we're gonna be late!"

Leona rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling like an idiot. The teenager was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom of her uncle's house in southern Oregon. She moved in here with her uncle, his wife and their now twelve year old son about three years ago. Back then she was only thirteen years old herself and she never expected to stay here for so long. They told her it was only temporary. Only until her father caught himself again. But he never did. He was such a brilliant man, but he suffered from an annoying gambling addiction ever since the divorce. And her mother was too busy traveling all around the planet to properly take care of her children. Not that Leona's older brother needed anyone to take her of him anymore. Well, not really. Eric could be such a child sometimes. And of course Leo loved nothing more than to tease him because everybody believed she was more mature than him. She always liked playing the grown up in the house. As long as it doesn't involve cooking or cleaning. Her friends kept telling her how much she contradicted herself sometimes. She hated shopping, because she didn't like crowds. But she loved buying new high heels and she went to every party she could because of how much she loved to dance. She could be brutally honest and energetic, but she certainly wasn't a fan of talking to people she didn't trust more than absolutely necessary. And people she trusted were a rare kind. Occasionally she wasn't even sure if she should trust her own family. Except for Eric. Her brother was always her closest confidant. She had many friends but none of them could her gain her trust completely like he did. When she a younger he used to spent hours just laughing with her, teaching her a few tricks with cards and computers. He always told her how proud he was that he had such an intelligent and beautiful little sister. No question, Leona knew that she was quite pretty. But many people reduced her to that. They rarely ever gave her the chance to show off her wicked skills. But her brother challenged her. He knew what she could do when they would let her.

And then he left her alone with their uncle and his family. They tried to understand her, but they couldn't. No matter what they tried, her walls were built too high towards the sky. On the outside nobody would guess what was really behind her façade. She had her friends and she got along with most people, but there was always that voice in her head telling her that even her best friends would never truly know her and she would never truly trust them. Her brother would always be the only one who got emotionally so close to her. Which was ironic considered that he had the habit to stumble over his own words, and the annoying flip-flops, all the time when he just tried to be social.

Leo chuckled, brushing her long natural blonde hair onto her left shoulder. She thought for a moment before she decided she still had the time to braid it to a loose plait. Once she was finished she straightened her jeans-vest and nodded firmly. She was finally going to see her brother again. Besides, she had never been to Los Angeles before, which was a crime for a California Girl. If she could, she would just move into her brother's apartment. But of course she wasn't allowed to. Even though she wasn't sure why. After all she could be helpful and she loved LA and her brother more than anything she could have here. But even when she just wanted to visit him occasionally he told her he was busy. How busy could a professional Blackjack-Player possibly be? She always thought that was a weird job anyways. Not that she didn't like it. Eric used to say she had a perfect poker face. Of course their mother wasn't thrilled about their shared hobby, but it wasn't like she was ever around to stop them. And in opposite to their father, Eric and Leona knew how to control themselves.

She rushed to her room, quickly grabbing her bag and her scrapbook for the flight. She always loved drawing, writing and designing. Her arts teacher said she had a good feeling for colors and contrast. In general, she got along with pretty much everyone. Her teachers, the other students, her family. If only it wasn't for the ones who called her selfish and egoistic just because she was smart and had a good sense for fashion. Especially her high heels. That was about the only cliché she couldn't help but follow. Shoes were simply a weakness of hers. Which was the only thing about her that annoyed her brother to hell, because she kept telling him how it wouldn't kill him to occasionally wear real shoes and pants. It all started when Eric began to be proud of their Scottish and German roots. He was more into the Scottish part while she learned German.

She rushed towards the staircase to go downstairs. And there was the annoying voice of her cousin Tyler again.

"God, what are you doing up there, Lee? Do you first have to sewyour clothes before you're ready to go?"

"I'm on my way, Ty! I just don't want to forget anything!"

"You always do. You could still spend hours up there and you'd still forget something! Now come on down! I want to go surfing!"

She rolled her eyes and ran downstairs, the bag slung over her shoulder and the book held tightly against her chest. "See? I'm ready. Where are Aunt Beth and Uncle Malcolm?"

"They're bringing their stuff to the car already."

He tried to pick up his father's old surfboard, but failed miserably and hit his head at the wooden frame of a family picture on the opposite wall. She gritted her teeth, quickly stepping aside when she saw that he lost his grip on the board. And not a second too soon, because the tall object fell to the floor exactly where the girl stood only seconds ago. She rolled her eyes again and glanced to the board. "You okay, Ty?"

"I'm okay." He nodded firmly, smiling a little bit. They daily had the most ridiculous arguments, but that doesn't mean they didn't care about each other. She hated to admit it, but she still wanted to keep an eye on him. That was one of the few benefits of living with her uncle and his family. Tyler was almost like a little brother to Leona. She didn't trust him all the way, but that wasn't his fault and they both knew it.

"Leona! Tyler! Are you both ready to go?"

That was Leona's Aunt Bethany. A nice woman, but with a cleaning addiction. Leo didn't like how cliché that sounded, but it seemed to be what Beth wanted. She was a nurse, but she didn't return to her workplace after her pregnancy. She wanted to be there for her son, and now for his cousin.

"I think so. We'll be there in a minute, Bethany."

Leona never stopped calling her uncle's wife simply by her first name. She liked the distance it put in between them. She liked Beth, but how should she trust her when she couldn't even trust her own mother? But that was an entirely other story.

She chuckled, seeing how Ty tried yet again to carry the surfboard on his own. He was quite small for his age, while she was already tall without her black Prada high heels. She placed her scrapbook in her bag and made sure she wouldn't drop it before she bent down to pick up one end of the board. At first he looked a little unamused, probably because his pride got scratched. But then he more or less willingly picked up the other end and held it above his head so he could reach her height. Luckily the way to the car went more or less smoothly. That's when Malcolm decided to take over and placed the board on the roof of his dark green Mitsubishi Outlander. He secured the board while Leo and Tyler got onto the backseats of the car. Bethany loaded their bags into the trunk. As soon as everyone and everything in the car was settled and Malcolm started the engine, Leona reached over the back of her seat and took the scrapbook out of her bag again. Opening it, she took the pen secured on the spine and started writing.

Saturday, 28th of June

Uncle Mal, Beth, Ty and I are finally on our way to the airport. I can't wait to see my brother again. And for once not on a screen. Ty can't wait to finally go surfing in LA either. I've gotta admit that I'm looking forward to the Californian beach too. But I mostly just miss my brother. I don't understand why he keeps trying to hold onto the distance between us. It's been about a year since he last visited us in Oregon and we've never been to LA before. Of course we're gonna stay at a hotel too. That means that we may not even see much of each other despite our holiday lasting two weeks. I would still rather live back in California with him than in Oregon with our uncle's family. Maybe also because I was born in northern California. I don't belong to Oregon or Uncle Malcolm or his wife Bethany. I belong to California and to my brother. Why can't they just accept that? Granted, I'd probably miss Tyler a bit. But I miss my brother even more. And now I may get my chance to prove that. I want to stay in LA. And in the end, I usually get what I want.