Indirectly Dating
Summary: "She wasn't sure how it had happened, but Nell was pretty sure that she and Eric had indirectly started dating." NellxEric, oneshot, complete.
Author's Note: Almost two years ago, my friend Jessica walked up to me and said "I think I may have indirectly been asked out on a date." The phrase, and the conversation that followed, has popped into my mind a few times since, and I finally got around to writing about it recently. Just a heads up – Nell talks a little bit about having some symptoms of PTSD in the third section.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS: LA
She wasn't sure how it had happened, but Nell was pretty sure that she had indirectly agreed to go out on a date with Eric. Okay, so she knew how it had happened – he had seen a flyer for one of her favorite local indie bands while he was out surfing one morning before work and had invited her to go see them. What she didn't know was at what point the concert had become an actual date. Somewhere along the way, he had suggested grabbing a bite before the concert since they both had the day off, and had offered to pick her up when she mentioned that she didn't know where the concert venue was. It had all felt very casual and not at all date-like until Nell had filled in her cousin Renee.
"Wait a minute – Eric finally asked you out on a date?" she had exclaimed earlier that week when they talked over Skype. "Took him long enough," she had quipped.
"It's not a date," Nell had covered, although even she could recognize that her response had come a little too quickly to guarantee her cousin believing it.
"Let's break this down," Renee had countered, a hint of condescension slipping into her voice. "He's picking you up for dinner and then you're going to a concert together. In my book, that counts as a date, sweetheart," Renee had decided.
"Well it's not a date," Nell had insisted. Renee had simply rolled her eyes and agreed to help Nell decide what she was going to wear. Her logic, however, had resonated in Nell's mind all week, ultimately bringing her to the conclusion that Renee had been right. She had agreed to go on a date with Eric.
The realization had finally hit her earlier that day when she was still half-asleep, jolting her fully awake. She had forced herself to calm the nerves she suddenly felt flooding her body, but they slowly returned as the day progressed, despite her attempts at self-distraction. When she finally started to get ready, she silently thanked Renee. Her cousin had managed to pick out the perfect outfit for a date without Nell realizing. She smiled and arrived at her second realization of the day. She was actually excited to go on a date with Eric.
As she got dressed, her mind wandered. She really shouldn't have been surprised by either realization. After all, Eric had been clear about his feelings for her since they had started working together, and she had never been good at hiding her jealousy when the flirted with one of the other girls in the office. Ever since they had started working together, they had matched minds and bonded over their mutual misfortune of walking in on Deeks and Kensi in their more...intimate moments. She wondered how the rest of the team would react when they found out about the date, but she quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. She needed to get through the date itself before she started to plan for its aftermath.
On the other hand, she and Kensi had grown increasing close ever since the Afghanistan debacle (the name that Talia had drunkenly assigned to Kensi's stint abroad during one of their girls nights out), and she could probably shed some light on how to handle returning to work once their relationship had changed slightly. Nell made a mental note to call her coworker after her date as she finished applying a light coat of makeup. She jumped slightly at the knock on her front door.
"Coming!" she squeaked, clearing her throat immediately after. On the other side of the door, Eric shuffled his feet. He froze when it opened.
"Wow," he finally whispered. She blushed and giggled. "Ready to go?" he checked. She reached to her side for her purse and followed him down the stairs and out the door.
Kensi reached frantically for her phone, trying to find it quickly so as to not wake Deeks in her search. She checked the caller ID before she picked up and was slightly surprised to see that it was Nell's personal number. She kept her voice low as she answered.
"Morning, lady," Nell whispered. Kensi could sense a hint of nerves in her friend's voice.
"What's up, Nell?" she asked, jumping straight to the point.
"I think that Eric and I went on a date last night," Nell confessed. Silence met her on the other end of the line.
"You...think?" Kensi checked.
"I didn't exactly realize it was a date until yesterday morning when I woke up," Nell admitted.
"Ah. Why not?" Kensi pressed.
"Because it's Eric," Nell clarified.
"Exactly." Silence ensued once more. "Hey Nell?" Kensi started as her mind woke more fully and began to sense why Nell might have been calling. Lying beside Kensi, Deeks finally woke up at the sound of her name.
"Yes?"
"Is he still there?" Deeks sat up, giving Kensi space to lean back on him.
"Is who still where?" he asked. Kensi shushed him with a wave of her hand as Nell responded affirmatively to her question.
"Where is he?" Kensi continued, ignoring Deeks, who was now fully awake and highly intrigued by Kensi's half of the conversation.
"In my bed," Nell replied warily. Kensi gasped.
"Did you two?"
"NO!" Nell interrupted quickly, grateful that Kensi wasn't there to see her blush. "He drove me back from the concert we went to and I invited him in for a drink. We got to talking, and then to kissing, and somewhere in there we decided my bed is more comfortable than my couch."
"You know you're rambling like Eric, right?" Kensi checked. Deeks' jaw dropped in shock as he put the two names he had heard together.
"I know," Nell agreed. "So, any advice? It's been a while, and this is more your territory than mine."
"Just go with whatever you're feeling," Kensi reassured. "Oh, and we're going out for drinks tonight with Talia and Rose."
"Since when?" Nell checked.
"Since you went on a date with Eric last night." The two girls hung up their phones. Nell returned to her bedroom, where Eric had just started to wake up, and leaned against the door frame.
"Morning," he greeted sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. She smiled back at him.
"Morning."
She wasn't sure how it had happened, but Nell was pretty sure that she and Eric had indirectly started dating. They had never actually talked about it, but in the weeks since their concert adventure, they had spent almost every night together. What had started as an occasional movie night after work had turned into an almost nightly ritual. They usually went straight to Nell's after work, where they would either cook (Eric was surprisingly skilled in the kitchen) or order takeout (Nell had a thing for a local Thai spot), depending on how long they were willing to wait after a day of working in OPS without food. They went to Eric's once in a while, but Nell's place was bigger and cleaner, so they tended to default there most days. Their conversations over dinner flowed easily, covering whatever was on their minds. They took turns choosing the movie for the night, but they rarely made it all the way through before Nell fell asleep using Eric as her human pillow.
"Nell," Eric whispered to the sleeping beauty beside him. They had settled into the corner of her couch. Her back rested against his chest as their legs stretched out in opposite directions. "Nell," he repeated, slightly louder. This time, she shifted slightly in her place, so Eric gave her a moment to wake and compose herself. She stood and held her hand out to him, but instead of following her to the bedroom like he usually did at this point in their night, he gently pulled her back down to sit on the couch beside him.
"What's up?" Nell asked, sleep still lacing the edges of her voice.
"Are you sure you're okay with this? Me staying over here all the time? You started to fall asleep as soon as we started the movie tonight. If you're not getting enough sleep because I'm here, all you have to do is say the word, and I'll go back to my place after dinner, because I don't want to get in the way of you sleeping or anything like that," Eric rambled. Nell shook her head.
"That's not it," she assured, reaching for his free hand. "Do you remember when I had to go undercover as Hetty?" Eric nodded, his mind flashing back to the days when he had sat alone in OPS, leaving dozens of unanswered messages on her phone, begging her to let him in, to let him help. He had tried to bring it up once when she had come back to work, but she had shut the conversation down immediately. He had taken the hint even though he could tell that she was still struggling to come to terms with the life she had taken.
"The team said that the first one's the hardest because it's the one that you remember the most. For months, I saw his face every night before I fell asleep. The way he looked at me before I shot him. I couldn't get the image out of my head for so long, and even now, it still pops up some nights. I can't fall asleep because I'm trying to forget or worrying that I'll remember. Except when you're here," she admitted, changing gears. Eric smiled slightly. "When you're here, I can fall asleep without a problem. I'm not so worried about seeing his face, and I think my body is just trying to catch up on sleep. It doesn't hurt that you're a really comfortable pillow."
"So you want me to stay?" he checked. Instead of answering, she stood up again, this time successfully pulling him with her back to her bedroom, suddenly full of energy.
"Is that the Wonder Twins?" Deeks checked as he and Kensi stepped out of his car. Kensi followed his gaze to a back corner of the parking lot, where she found Nell leaning against her car and Eric standing in front of her. Kensi quickly assessed the changes in their body language – the relaxation she could see in Nell's muscles, the small circles Eric's thumb drew on the back of the hand he held, the soft smiles they both wore – before Nell pushed off the car and leaned up to kiss him. They began to walk toward the building entrance, their fingers still interlaced between them and their eyes still locked on each other.
"They've been a thing for a while," Kensi pointed out as she and Deeks fell into step. However, even though she tried to keep Deeks off the scent, she could clearly tell that something had changed between the pair. She nudged Nell's shoulder lightly as they all met just before the doors. Nell bit her lip and blushed.
"So Talia sent me a few dates for possible girls' nights," Kensi introduced, giving her and Nell an excuse to step away from the boys as they entered the building. Nell pulled up the calendar on her phone, going along with Kensi's ruse even though she could tell it was just that. Kensi waited to ensure that the boys had walked out of earshot before she launched straight to her question.
"Did Eric stay over last night?" she asked.
"Eric has been staying over most nights," Nell pointed out. Kensi rolled her eyes.
"You know what I mean," she pressed. Nell blushed. "He did! I knew it!" Nell laughed at Kensi's uncharacteristic outburst. "Was it your first time?" she checked.
"Me and Eric? Yeah, our first time," Nell confirmed.
"It wasn't your first time ever, right?" Kensi asked.
"No," Nell assured.
"Good. And it wasn't his first time, was it?" Nell blushed more deeply as she remembered the way his hands and his lips had felt on her bare skin.
"Definitely not."
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this! I just finished up my last semester of my undergraduate degree, so I have a little bit of time off before I start my graduate classes, so look out for some more writing in coming weeks both here and on my Tumblr account (perfectpurls), where I'm taking requests and prompts!