Facts of Life
There are a few things he's sure of.
Forest fires move faster uphill than downhill, for some reason.
There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos, something he knows from experience.
An average person eats about 35000 cookies during a lifetime and Kensi has probably already passed that number.
There are over 58 million dogs in the US and he has the laziest one.
And his partner in a dress, today of all days, is going to be the death of him.
It's New Year's Eve and there's something quite disturbing about working on such an occasion. He's not supposed to be here, dressed in a fancy suit and waiting for Hetty to finish getting Kensi ready.
He's supposed to be out in a bar, drinking and pretending to have fun with some dumb blonde he couldn't care less about. He's supposed to use all the drinking and company to try to pretend he's not in love with his partner.
Because that's simply not acceptable. He cannot be in love with Kensi Blye. But he is and the wrapped jar he has at home (something he bought for her a few days ago) serves to mock him, to make him realize there's no more denying or turning back.
He's in love with her and the only thing he can do is suffer in silence.
He can try. Marty can try to keep fooling himself, can try to keep his eyes off of her. But he's too far gone and he's getting painfully aware that the only person who has yet to pick up on his real feelings is Kensi. He's not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.
It could go either way, he guesses.
She could become aware of his feelings, kiss him and tell him she loves him just as much. Or she could take the most likely path and yell at him, angry because he ruined their partnership and perhaps even friendship.
It's probably not worth the risk.
And that's why he disguises it as well as he can.
That's why he tries to be as cold towards her as he can during the whole day.
That's why, when she comes out of the dressing room looking absolutely breathtaking, the only thing he says before starting to walk towards the car is "Took you long enough!".
He senses she's following him to the car, professional as ever. They're on their way to an undercover operation, on their way to a fancy party where they're supposed to act as a couple.
And, with just two hours to go before midnight, he just knows his plans for the evening are ruined.
They get in the car and she doesn't protest when he gets in the driver's seat and that makes him frown but he's not going to break the silence that has settled between them. He knows her better than that and if Kensi wants to be in silence, they'll be in silence.
On the way there, and without her noticing, he looks at her through the corner of his eye. Her hair is tied up in an elegant hairdo. Her blue strapless dress shows more skin than what she likes to show during undercover operations but at least she won't have to seduce anyone tonight. Her makeup is darker than usual but, as Hetty said, this is a fancy party. She's beautiful but, then again, he thinks she's beautiful even when she's lying on an hospital bed, bruises and all.
They're ten minutes away from the party when she finally breaks the silence, her voice somewhat soft. "I'm sorry."
That successfully breaks him off his thoughts. "What are you sorry for?"
She stays in silence for a while and, during that time, he wishes he could read her mind. Kensi only answers him once they're close enough to see the party-location and he knows she does it on purpose. That way, she knows he won't have the time to reply to whatever she has to say.
It's sneaky and it should make him angry.
But it's her and it's adorable, in a weird way.
"I know the job sucks sometimes and I'm sure you had better plans for tonight. But shit happens and bad guys don't take breaks. I'm sure you had a girl waiting for you somewhere, maybe even family and friends, but you're stuck with me for tonight. I'm sorry about that. But, for all that's worth, I'm kind of happy I get to be with you tonight. I know it sounds selfish but my plans for tonight consisted on putting on my pajama and eating ice cream in front of the TV until midnight. Then, it was off to bed. I'm sorry your plans got ruined."
She's sneaky, alright.
Because he wants to reply to all that.
He wants to tell her his plans were much worse than hers. He wants to tell her there's no one he'd rather be with tonight than her. Hell, he wants to tell her there's no one he'd rather be with than her, any night.
But they're at the party and they have to slip into their roles. There's no time for replies or anything like that. She puts her earpiece on and waits for him to get out of the car and open the door for her.
He sends her one meaningful look before getting out of the car, just to let her know this conversation is far from over and that they are going to discuss what she just said. He opens the door for her and takes her hand, realizing for the first time why she didn't even try to drive. Her heels are huge and he knows she doesn't like to drive with such big heels, says she can't feel the pedals and always ends up speeding too much or breaking too fast.
Deeks wants to hold her as tight as he can and keep all the eyes that turn to her as soon as she enters the hell away from her.
But sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do and this is not the time or the place to be possessive. The party is in full swing and he has to stop himself from laughing when he sees an elephant there…a real one. It's ridiculous. Everyone already knows the person hosting the party is disgustingly rich. That's just too much.
In a bit over one hour, it's all over. The bad guys are arrested with enough proof to make them go to jail for a good number of years and Hetty's giving them permission to go home or wherever they want to go, as long as they promise nothing will happen to the clothes she's borrowing them for tonight.
Deeks is pretty sure she just doesn't want them all to spend the remaining minutes of the year changing back at the headquarters.
Kensi is the only one who protests, saying she doesn't want to go home in that dress. Hetty gives her a simple answer, through the earpiece. "This is what I've learned in my life, my dear: head banging is crucial, growing up is hard to do and there's nothing wrong with wearing a dress. Happy New Year!"
Callen and Sam say their goodbyes but Kensi pulls Callen aside before he leaves. He stands there with Sam, not being able to listen the conversation between the other two agents.
But no one can say Marty Deeks is not a curious man so he turns to Sam. "What do you think it's going on there?"
Sam laughs before answering him. "She's probably trying to convince him to take her home. But he's not going to budge, don't worry."
Deeks frowns. "I don't get it. I can take her home. And why are you so sure he's not going to budge?"
Sam pats him on the back just as Callen starts walking towards them, leaving Kensi alone by the car looking defeated. "Her earpiece was off but yours wasn't. We heard everything and we're guessing you want to talk to her, something Kensi seems to want to avoid."
Deeks sighs and Callen looks at him. "Don't screw this up, Deeks. I just gave you a great opportunity to solve this once and for all."
Deeks says his goodbyes and walks to Kensi. He stands next to her without saying a word, waiting for her to break the silence. And she does, after a few seconds. "My house is 15 minutes away from here."
He shakes his head. "Are you crazy? Your house is super close. We'll be there in five minutes."
Kensi turns to him. "It's five minutes away by car. I could get there in fifteen minutes, walking."
Deeks frowns. "Let me see if I'm getting this. You want to walk home at midnight, on New Year's Eve, dressed like that and with those shoes?"
"What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?"
Once again, he doesn't say what he really wants to say. He doesn't say she looks hot and that there are too many creeps out there. Instead, he tries a different approach. "If you think I'm going to let you go alone, you're crazy! Come on, get in the car and let me drive you."
She looks at him and he has to keep himself at bay because she's beautiful, he's in love with her and he wants to kiss her. But he doesn't and she speaks. "Then come with me. I just want to walk…"
And he does because denying her anything is not his strongest suit. They're halfway there when she speaks again. "What's your tradition?"
He shrugs and thinks about an answer to give her. He knows everyone else's tradition. Callen always spends it with Sam and his family. Sam leaves a little note with an inspirational quote on their desks. Kensi eats ice cream in front of the TV. He doesn't know what to tell her so he settles for the truth.
"I go to a bar where no one knows me, drink until I become tipsy and pick up the dumbest blonde there."
She doesn't judge him. "I'm sorry you had to break it this year."
That reminds him of the conversation he wants to have with her. "Do you know what I did last week, when I started planning my night?"
She shakes her head and he sees the glint of curiosity in her eyes. "I was trying to decide where to spend the night and ended up buying something for you, without even realizing what I was doing. That's when I realized something. I can live without friends, family and without dumb blondes and beer. But I can't live without you."
They're in the middle of the sidewalk by then, not walking, just staring into one another's eyes. He sees something in her eyes, something he never allowed himself to believe in before.
But he needs to know for sure, needs her to give him something. But, just as she opens her mouth to speak, the fireworks cut her off. And, before he can even think about reacting, her lips are on his and she's kissing him, showing him with her kiss what she has yet to say.
And he kisses her back, pulling her as close to his body as he can, his arms wrapped around her waist. When air becomes scarce, they pull back and she looks into his eyes with the biggest smile he's ever seen on her face, something that triggers his own smile.
"Happy new year, Marty."
He laughs and pecks her lips, unable to get enough of her. "Happy new year, princess."
They end up going to her house together that night and, when she wakes up in the morning, there's a fantastic smell coming from the kitchen and a jar full of Hershey's Hugs and Kisses with a note attached to it.
365…you can count them. Just don't eat them all in one day!
Smiling, she gets up and puts one of his old shirts on (one she doesn't remember seeing there the night before) and walks to the kitchen. He's there, wearing just his boxers and making pancakes.
He senses she's there and turns around, smiling brightly. "Good morning, sleepy-head."
She wraps her arms around his waist and kisses him. "Good morning, Marty. How long have you been up for?"
He shrugs and pulls her closer. "I took care of a few things while you were sleeping. I went to pick up your car, took our clothes back to Hetty, picked up the jar you must have seen when you got up from my house and started making pancakes."
She pouts then, making him laugh. "I wanted to wake up next to you."
He motions for her to wait a second, puts the pancakes in a plate and turns back to her with a mischievous smile on his face. "Do you like cold pancakes?"
She laughs and nods. "They're my favorite type of pancakes."
That's enough answer for him. Deeks picks her up and carries her to the bedroom.
And, when she wakes up again, naked and two hours later, he's right there next to her, spooning her.
There are a few things he's sure of.
The Ramses brand condom is named after the great pharaoh Ramses II who fathered over 160 children, something that never seemed like a good publicity to him.
It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open, something he never tried and has no wish to do so.
Kensi is the woman he loves and nothing will ever change that.
There's no better way to start 2013!
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Here it is! My New Year's Eve one-shot. I hope you all have an amazing year and that all your best wishes come true.
Love,
Sarah