A/N I loved loved loved this season's Christmas episode! (The Christmas episodes are always the best, aren't they?) The Neric killed me! This is a little story, it might have another chapter, it might stand alone, who knows, that takes place immediately after the episode ended, while they're still at the Christmas party. One of the things I've been thinking about a lot lately is the Myers-Briggs personality types of my favorite characters. It's my theory that, at least, Nell is a T and Eric is a F (ISFJ and ENFP, maybe? Thoughts, anyone? I'm nowhere near confident in this assessment) so I deal with that a little bit in this too, though it was entirely by accident. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

The Rain Check

Kensi noticed Nell all alone in the corner of the bullpen, so she wandered over to her friend. The Christmas party was still in full swing, and Kensi had yet to have any more visions of fighting people, so that was a plus, but she wondered why Nell didn't appear to be enjoying herself. "Hey, Nell, what's up?"

Nell smiled, looking down at her drink, "Nothing much."

"Then why are you over here all alone?" Kensi knew that parties weren't always Nell's thing, but usually when she was with her friends from OSP she had fun.

"Oh, I'm just worried about Eric," Nell sighed.

Kensi nodded, "Ah, right, Beale does go a little overboard on the eggnog."

"No," Nell chuckled a little, but not in a way that suggested good humor, "I had to cancel on the Dickens festival. A while back I applied for a Women in Technology mentorship program, and I was accepted, but it's on the same day as the festival. What makes it worse is that he didn't even know beforehand that I applied."

"Oh, that sucks," Kensi touched Nell's arm sympathetically.

"Yeah," Nell blew out a breath, "And I tried to make him feel at least a little bit better, I told him that even couples who've been married for fifty years still find out new things about each other. I mean, you don't know everything about Deeks, right?"

"No, I don't," Kensi allowed, "But I'm sure I'd tell him if I was applying for something like that, and I'm sure he'd do the same."

Nell frowned, "I didn't want people to know in case I didn't get picked."

"Because you can't let on that you're anything less than perfect, I know," Kensi raised her eyebrows. "I'm sure Beale understands that too, but that doesn't mean—"

"I got him a pendulum clock!" Nell interrupted desperately, trying to come up with something to make Kensi stop looking at her that way. "That was supposed to make everything better."

"I'm going to assume that that is something really nerdy but also really sweet that no one else would fully understand, because that seems to be the M.O. with you two," Kensi said.

Nell ignored her, "I just know that he's still upset, and I wish I could make it up to him."

"Of course he's upset!" Kensi brushed her hair out of her eyes, slightly frustrated, "After all these years, Beale finally works up the nerve to ask you on a date and then you have to cancel? That'd upset anybod—"

Nell cut her off, "Whoa, wait, no, Kens, this wasn't a date!"

Kensi opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it.

"Did Eric tell you this was a date?" Nell demanded, thinking that she might need more eggnog if this conversation was going to continue.

"No," Kensi lied unconvincingly, "No, he did not. I'm not sure how that crazy idea got in my head."

"Kensi."

"Fine," Kensi sighed, relenting, "You know how he make sure to call me at least once a week to catch me up on the things that are going on around here, as if I don't already hear about it from Deeks?"

"Of course, he wants to make sure you know we haven't forgotten you," Nell smiled fondly, despite the turn this conversation had taken.

"Yeah," Kensi swallowed an unexpected lump in her throat, her mind on her earlier thoughts about Anna replacing her, "Well, he was really excited and told me all about the fair after you agreed to go with him, and he said, 'Now, maybe she'll finally go out with me.'"

Nell wasn't sure what to say. "He didn't give me any indication that it was supposed to be a date," she said hopelessly, "I mean, he was nervous and awkward when he asked me if I wanted to go, but he's Beale, he's like that half the time."

"Nell," Kensi rolled her eyes, "He's only nervous and awkward around you, and it's only because of how much he cares for you."

"I didn't know," Nell repeated softly, feeling even guiltier about canceling.

"Look," Kensi nudged Nell's shoulder, "Eric works best with emotions and you work best with logic," she explained, "It's part of why you work so well as a team. Maybe for Eric, even though he didn't do anything logical to indicate that he was trying to ask you out, maybe as far as he was concerned his feelings spoke for him, and he thought you'd pick up on it." Kensi shrugged, "He thinks he's made his feelings clear over the years, so what other conclusion, to him, could there be other than it was supposed to be a date?"

Nell felt miserable, "What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, you got him a clock, what more could he want?" Kensi joked, but soon realized that Nell was not in the mood, "Why don't you try talking to him about it? Maybe include some emotions in it, he likes those."

Nell nodded, "Right. Talk to him. I can do that."

Kensi could tell she was trying really hard to steel herself for what she was about to do. "Oh, and figure out if you want to date him in the first place," Kensi added as Nell started across the bullpen towards her partner.

~o0o~

Maybe Eric was having a little too much fun at the Christmas party. Maybe he was drinking just a little bit too much of the spiked eggnog. Maybe he was singing along to the Christmas carols just a little too loudly, and maybe he was annoying every single one of his coworkers with his fake accent and Dickens quotes. And maybe, just maybe, he wasn't having very much fun at all.

Who could blame him?

At some point in the revelry, he got separated from Nell, which, when he considered, might not be a bad thing, because now that she was over in the corner talking to Kensi, he could stop pretending he was having a good time. If anyone was going to notice how he really felt, it'd be Nell, and he didn't want her to feel any guiltier than she already did.

He couldn't help but think that this was all because Nell didn't want to go out with him. Of course he knew that wasn't true, it wasn't like Nell called the mentorship program and requested the one particular weekend just to get out of the Dickens fair (could she do that?), and he could tell that she did feel guilty about having to take a rain check (hence the not wanting to make her feel guiltier) but he was still afraid that maybe this would give her more time to realize she didn't want anything to do with him, so that by the time he worked up the nerve to ask her to something else, she'd say no.

He couldn't ignore that so far, other than bailing on him, which she had a good reason to do, she hadn't given any indication that she didn't want to go out with him at some point (he couldn't ignore it because it was pretty much on his mind at all times, except when the crippling insecurities set in) but of course that didn't stop him from worrying, and above all, being disappointed that this hadn't worked out.

"Hey," a female voice from behind Eric broke him out of his reverie. He hoped at first that it was Nell, but he could tell from the voice that it wasn't. "Mind if I join you?"

"Sure," Eric smiled at Anna, who took a seat next to him.

"You look like you've suddenly stopped enjoying yourself," Anna observed, "Eggnog lost its kick?"

"No, uh," Eric looked down at his drink, not meeting Anna's alert and all-encompassing gaze. "Nell and I just had plans to go to the Dickens fair, well, you heard, and she had something come up last minute."

Anna patted his leg sympathetically, "I'm sure she hates she's going to miss it."

"Yeah," Eric hated how dejected he sounded, "I guess."

"Well, hey," Anna smiled, "I'm trying to really get to know people around here, and I never have any plans, so if it comes down to it and you still need a friend to go with you, why don't you give me a call, huh?"

Eric raised an eyebrow at her, "You sounded like you hated the idea when we were talking about it earlier."

"Eh," Anna shrugged, "I'll probably hate it, but you wouldn't enjoy it all by yourself either. Plus, it's Christmas, the time of year that you agree to things you really don't want to do and then regret it later."

Eric smiled, "Thanks, Anna."

"Anytime."

~o0o~

Eric didn't talk to Nell again for another twenty minutes. He was still sitting where Anna left him, so Nell took Anna's empty seat. She wasn't wearing her hat anymore, though Eric was pretty sure his was still on his head.

"Hey," Nell touched his arm, which surprised him enough to make him really look at her, "How are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Eric was stalling, but he was also not sure if she was inquiring about the amount of alcohol he'd ingested or about their cancelled plans.

"I don't know," Nell shrugged. She didn't remove her hand like he expected, she did the opposite, linking her arm through his and resting her head on his shoulder. "I just hate that I disappointed you, and I don't want you to do something like sit alone at a party that might make you feel worse."

"I talked to Anna earlier," Eric said, not sure why he did, maybe because he wanted to seem less pathetic and also because he wanted Nell to know that she shouldn't feel bad about him sitting by himself.

"I noticed," Nell said. She started to say something else, but then she saw the phone number scrawled on Eric's hand. "What's that?"

Eric panicked a little, but managed to keep up a calm façade, "Anna gave me her number. She said that if I wanted someone to go with me to the festival I could give her a call."

"Oh," Nell set up straight, letting go of Eric's arm. "That's nice." She wanted to kick herself at first for being so silly, of course Eric was going to find someone else to go with him, and why shouldn't he? Nell made her choice, and Eric was free to ask anyone he wanted to take her place if he—

Nell forced herself to stop her inner tirade. Remembering what Kensi said, what Nell already knew to be true about her partner, she reminded herself that even if it logically appeared that Eric was replacing her with Anna, that didn't mean it was true for him. Eric had feelings for Nell; he only thought of Anna as a friend. She had no reason to be jealous.

"Nell?" Eric was giving her a concerned look, "I didn't ask her, she just offered. I didn't ask for her number either, she just—"

"It's fine," Nell smiled, and almost laughed at the immediate look of relief on Eric's face. "You don't have to explain."

Eric nodded, not sure what else to say.

"I, uh," Nell suddenly looked nervous, "I was talking to Kensi earlier and she said that you told her us going to the Dickens festival was a date?"

Eric blinked, frowning. "I, um, I thought, maybe," he stuttered, running a hand through his hair, very out of his element and very afraid of what was going to come out of Nell's mouth next.

"It's fine, Beale, calm down," Nell laughed a little, putting her hand back on his arm. "I just didn't know you thought about it that way."

Eric bit his lip, "I guess I should be more clear next time, then."

"Next time?"

Crap, Beale squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Yes, next time. I don't know if you've noticed, Nell, but I've had feelings for you for a long time, and I've recently decided that I should start acting on them. This means that I will probably continue to ask you out until you definitively tell me that I have no chance."

Nell was silent for so long that Eric hesitantly opened his eyes.

"Okay," she said finally.

"Okay?" Eric repeated hesitantly.

Nell nodded, "Yep."

"Okay," Eric looked shocked and dumbfounded.

"I am sorry that I can't go to the festival," Nell said emphatically.

"I know you are," Eric smiled. "It's okay, now that I know I get another chance."

Nell smirked a little, but didn't comment on that. "Shall we rejoin the party?" she asked in her cockney accent.

"Yes, we shall!" he answered, also affecting the accent. He offered her his arm, which she accepted.

"Merry Christmas, Beale."

"Merry Christmas!"