Nothing But Love

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Okay, so a companion piece wasn't planned, but some of you lovely people wanted another chapter, so here you go :)

The song is Nothing But Love by Trading Yesterday

"Contrary to hundreds of years of scientific evidence, I believe that raccoons do mate for life..."

Deeks rolled over in his bed, running a hand through his blond hair with a soft groan. God, he was an idiot.

She had been right there! Kensi had laid it all out on the table for him, and he had chosen to step back?

And all because of one suspect. Paul Angelo had known exactly what to say to get into their heads - or, well, Deeks's head. Kensi had been able to see right through the guy, understand that he was trying to turn the tables on them, doing exactly what Angelo did best.

It had taken just one comment. One little comment for Deeks to lose whatever hold he still had on his self-control. One little comment to make that mask Deeks wore so well slip and crack open.

"She saw yours, didn't she?"

And that was the problem. Deeks could lie and say that the comment held no truth to it. That there was no such thing as three hearts.

But there was, and Deeks, and Angelo, and Kensi knew that. Kensi had seen his third heart. After he had been tortured, there were so many things that had come rushing back to him, all of which Kensi had seen. The embarrassment, knowing that Sam was back to work already when Deeks could barely get out of bed in the morning. The guilt he felt every time he saw Kensi watching him with those sad eyes. He never wanted to make her sad.

And the anger. So much anger. Deeks had held so much anger in him since his childhood that his torture was the straw that broke the camel's back. Anger that his partner had already caught a glimpse of when he was Max Gentry.

Anger that could all be tied back to one man. His father.

Deeks pushed all thoughts of the man from his mind. He was dead, Deeks reminded himself. There was no way, unless he crawled out of hell, that Gordon John Brandel would ever be able to poison every aspect of Deeks's life again. No way he would be able to poison Kensi the same way he had his own son.

Deeks blew out a breath, squeezing his eyes shut. Sleep wouldn't come, he knew that. It was already 3AM, and his alarm would go off in about 2 hours so he could get in his daily surf anyway.

Still, Deeks knew he had to try. There was only so much coffee could do when it came to his job, and the chaos that came with it.

However, every time he closed his eyes, he saw her. Deeks saw the look in her eyes when he had slid the knife back to her, the light sparkle of tears for what they were missing out on.

Just because Deeks was scared. Scared of losing her one day, scared of having her wake up and realising that she could do so much better than him. Scared that he would get burned just like Angelo had.

Deeks had told her that he didn't know what to do with that - that being them, and their relationship. But in reality, he did know. Deeks knew what he wanted to do with that, what he needed to do.

Just like that night in the hospital, he was overcome with the need to see her. To talk to her.

To tell her that he had been wrong, and he wanted to be her raccoon. He wanted it more than anything else in the world, and if it was on a Frozen Lake, years of playing ice hockey with Ray at a local youth center had prepared him to skate across it.

Deeks threw the blankets off of his body, and went about getting dressed in a hurry. The fact that it was 3AM and his partner was probably sleeping didn't even occur to him in his moment of confidence.

Because Kensi had seen his third heart, and she had shown it nothing but love.

Kensi awoke on her couch to the sound of someone throwing stones against her window. Frowning, and stretching out her tired muscles, she switched off the tv and approached the door with the necessary amount of caution that was required when someone was outside your house at three-thirty in the morning.

Kensi opened the front door, and stepped out onto her porch, wrapping her arms around her body as a defense against the cold. Deeks was standing on her lawn, a handful of soft pebbles in his hand.

Monty sat beside him obediently, his tail wagging when he spotted Kensi. The dog gave her a tired look, almost as though he couldn't believe Deeks was there either. Kensi couldn't help but giggle, reaching down to stroke his fur as he left his daddy's side and bounded over to her.

Feeling a lot safer now that she knew who it was, Kensi's shoulders dropped, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You do know I have a doorbell, right? And a phone," She remarked dryly,"And it's 3AM."

Kensi's eyes swept over his slightly disheveled state. It was clear he had been in bed, and had gotten dressed quickly. The plaid shirt he wore still had the two top buttons undone.

A concerned expression fell onto her face then. After all, the last time he had been to her house was the morning she had been let out of the hospital, well over three weeks before. Since then, they had only spoken over the phone until she returned to work, where their partnership had been so strained by their undefined thing, personal visits just hadn't been in the picture. The kiss they had shared, well that had been completely ignored.

"I know. I'm an idiot."

His voice was so fast that Kensi blinked, and had to make sure he had actually spoken. A grin fell over her face then.

"We all know that, Deeks. Did it really require a 3AM visit?"

To her surprise, Deeks didn't rise up to the bait. He didn't give her that half-amused, half-proud smile he always gave her when she 'made a funny', as he affectionately called it.

"Kensi, I'm serious." He said, taking a step forward. Monty licked Kensi's hand and ran into her house, almost as though he sensed the change in the atmosphere, though neither of the partners were paying attention to him now.

"I told you I didn't know what to do, but I lied." Deeks admitted slowly. "I've known since we met in that MMA gym, since we went undercover as Justin and Melissa, since you were taken and I thought I was never getting you back. I know what I'm supposed to do here."

Kensi felt like she couldn't breathe, her heartbeat pounding away in her chest. She slowly unfolded her arms, letting them drop to her side as she took a step forward, meeting him in the middle.

Kensi knew it too, knew what he wanted to do, what he was going to do. The anticipation was going to kill her, Kensi was convinced of it. With a deep breath, she nodded softly at him.

"Then do it."

A smile spread across Deeks's face as he gently looped a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingertips brushing across her cheek before he cupped her jaw, tipping her head upwards.

He pressed his lips to hers, hesitantly at first until she began to respond. Kensi placed her hands on his chest, sliding them up into his hair as his arms wrapped themselves tightly around her waist, pulling her closer to him as their lips moved in unison.

Senses tingling, they pulled apart for air finally, and Kensi beamed up at him, snuggling into his arms, and resting her head on his shoulder as Deeks hugged her close.

The silence of the night was broken when Monty barked suddenly from inside the house.

"Hey, Kens?"

"Hm?" She hummed softly, happily, not willing to move out of his arms just yet.

"I think you have raccoons."

Yay, fluff! Clearly I had no set plan for this chapter, so I really hope it paid off and that you guys still like it! :)

I felt like we needed some fluff.

- Megan