'No better way to celebrate stopping an Iran sanctioned terrorist attack on the US economy than with a scoop, ok maybe a pint, of rocky road ice cream' I thought as I unlocked the door.
But you know what they say about the best laid plans…
The headlights of my partner's truck blinded me as he lowered his window.
"Come on Kensalina! Ice cream is gonna have to wait. I got us tickets to see the Katniss girl partner with the hangover guy. I'll buy you popcorn at the theatre."
It's a little embarrassing to admit, but it took me a few seconds to overcome the shock of his sudden appearance and newfound interest in the movie I had not so subtly been pointing out since its release a few weeks ago. But, who am I to argue with Bradley Cooper? I silently told myself I was jumping into his truck for the chocolate he was sure to buy me to go with our popcorn. It had nothing to do with missing him this entire day, if anything I was more pissed that I had to partner up with Granger and endure his weird mind games. Yeah, that was it, it had just been a weird day because of Granger and his "evaluation," not because a certain blonde detective wasn't there.
"So, what I miss at work? Uhh sorry I couldn't come get you this morning."
I just raised an eyebrow at that, and wondered if Hetty included partners in her order 'never to be spoken of again' at the end of this case… Deciding on the safer route, just in case, because really that woman knows everything, I played around with the radio. I was surprised to see my favorite techno station was already a preset… we rarely took his car, usually he just parked it in my space and I drove when we carpooled to work.
The car ride was short and we ran into the theatre just as the credits were starting.
"I thought you said this was a dancing movie? Why is he in a mental institution? Is this a mental musical? I think I'd be okay with that, but where does Katniss come in? I don't think they allow bows and arrows in mental institutions" Deeks rambled on in between bites of popcorn. Already wise to his tricks, I told him it wouldn't work, "I don't share my chocolate with anyone, not even you."
"Oh come one! I paid for it! You'd think I'm entitled to at least half a bar… one piece?" I just glared at him as I very slowly put another piece into my mouth. He seemed to give up for a while, he actually watched most of the movie with minimal interactions. His fidgeting seemed more intense than usual, but I attributed it to the theatre setting, it was kind of strange doing something we so often did alone in the presence of random people.
He didn't even look at me again until we both reached into the popcorn bucket at the same time and our hands touched. He gave me that lopsided grin as if just remembering I was there. He took his hand out of the popcorn bucket and put his arm around my shoulder instead. "Missed you today" he whispered.
I don't know why it felt so foreign, we usually fell asleep in that exact position when we watched movies on my couch, but this was a public place and yet the act seemed so intimate. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves and then I took the coward's way out. "Okay fine" I said as I shrugged out from under his arm and handed him the rest of my second chocolate bar.
It seemed to either appease him or warn him off because he didn't try anything else the remainder of the movie. In fact he barely spoke to me, he really did appear to have a lot on his mind, I wondered if maybe he had a difficult day in court that day. I guessed the connection to his friend Ray brought a lot of memories back. I wished I could comfort him if he needed it, but I couldn't risk him asking about my day again. It felt weird withholding information on a case from him, even if the order had come from my boss.
The car ride home was silent again, we didn't speak until he pulled up outside my apartment. "So that was an interesting movie, I was a little disappointed with the lack of bow and arrow shooting, but it was great, really. And you know, there were definitely some similarities between that actor you love so much and your very caring partner who took you to see him" Deeks announced as he gave me his trademark grin again.
That grin does something to me, or maybe I just had too much popcorn. Yeah that must be it. Just in case, I scoffed at him. "Yeah, I noticed that too… although I'm quite shocked you're finally accepting that 'Artie' is equivalent to a garbage bag " I smiled back, proud of my joke.. He just looked at me with that face he reserves for when he thinks I'm the least funny person on the planet and mumbled something about blonde hair, blue eyes, and dashing good looks. I opened the door to get out of his truck before we got into a debate about his healthy ego, and that's when he said "I'll pick you up for work in the morning." It came out sounding halfway like a promise, halfway like he was requesting permission.
"I won't hold my breath" I gently scolded him for neglecting to keep this same promise early that morning.
"Yeah, okay. And that's my cue to go. Next time, you're buying the popcorn honey" Deeks replied.
I smiled at him as I shut the door, running into my apartment ready to crash for the night. It wasn't until I was already curled up into my pillow when I realized I had knocked a guy over the head just a few hours ago for calling me the exact same nickname I was still smiling over.
