Thanks for all the awesome reviews - I'm so glad you are enjoying this. I started working on what I thought was going to be the concluding chapter when I had a sudden moment of inspiration and I hope you'll be pleased to know this is turning into a bit of a longer story than I had planned. I'll admit to struggling a little with this chapter - it's more of a transition chapter to get to the next part of the story which is longer and much more fluffy and will be posted soon. I hope you continue to enjoy this. Zoe.
Monday morning rolled around quickly and far from being nervous, Callen was looking forward to getting back to work. He had decided over the weekend that there was no point in thinking too much about what had happened on Friday night, it would just lead him in circles and no doubt leave him more confused. Instead he decided on a 'wait and see' approach. He would wait and see how Nell interacted with him, if she gave him any sign that she had felt something change. And he would wait and see how he felt when he saw her again. The only thing he knew was he couldn't pursue something without knowing she would reciprocate – there was too much at stake to risk going after something that he wasn't sure about. So as Callen arrived at OSP on Monday morning he was open to whatever may or may not happen.
"Hey Sam, good weekend?" Callen greeted his partner as he reached the bullpen to see Sam already settled at his desk, having now returned from his 'long weekend'.
"It was…interesting." Sam replied mysteriously. "Anything happening here?"
"Nope." Callen sighed as he dropped his bag down at the side of his desk and slid into his chair.
"Sorry I missed your birthday. How about I make it up to you, beers on Saturday?"
"If you're buying." Callen laughed.
"So did you do anything for your birthday or did you just mope at home like you used to before I came along?" Sam smiled.
"Actually, I went out for dinner." Callen replied casually. He had already decided that since the dinner was intended as a friendly one, there was no reason to hide it, even though he knew it would likely draw attention.
"You did?" Sam sounded surprised.
"Yup. With Nell." Callen dropped his gaze to the newspaper on his desk and waited for Sam's response.
"You went to dinner with Nell?" Sam asked, confusion thick in his voice.
"Uh huh." Callen replied nonchalantly as he turned the page of the paper.
"Like a date?" Sam's voice rose in pitch as he considered the idea.
"Nope." Callen shook his head.
"Okay?" Sam still sounded confused but he was interrupted from asking anything further when Eric whistled for them to come up.
"No Deeks or Kensi?" Callen asked, realising the Junior Agent and Detective were not in yet.
"Maybe they're already upstairs." Sam shrugged.
Arriving in the ops centre, Callen saw Kensi and Deeks were indeed already in and waiting. Eric was prepping the big screen for the briefing.
"Morning." Callen called out to everyone before noticing Nell in the corner. As she turned and smiled at him he felt a little knot in his stomach. It wasn't quite the definitive sign he was looking for to tell him that his feelings from Friday were still there but maybe it was something because he never used to get a knot in his stomach around her. He stared at her for a moment trying to interpret the smile she had thrown him – was it brighter than normal?
"Morning Callen." She greeted him. "Hi Sam." She added.
"Nell." Sam regarded her, his mind still thinking about Callen's random admission that he went to dinner with her.
"Can we get started please." Hetty's distinctive voice called out from the doorway. Callen could hear Hetty sounded a little agitated and he knew the case they were about to embark on would be tough.
He was right. The case was complicated by multiple suspects, misleading evidence and confusing information and they hadn't even started yet. When the briefing was over and Callen had formulated an initial plan of action, Kensi and Deeks headed out to start their investigation. Callen was making his way to the door when he saw Sam approach Nell.
"So I hear you kept my partner company on his birthday." The way Sam spoke was innocent enough, but Callen knew he was really trying to find out if there was something else going on. He paused, and waited to hear what she would say, hoping her response might give him a clue as to what she was thinking.
"I could hardly say no, he looked so pathetic, missing you." She told Sam jokingly, then glanced at Callen and winked. He had no idea what that indicated, other than she wanted him to know she didn't really think he was pathetic. "But I'm not sure my company was up to your standard Sam. You're going to have to take him out and make it up to him." Nell added.
"Come on Sam, we have work to do." Callen urged his partner, before he started asking questions that could get uncomfortable for both he and Nell. "Bye Nell." He called back to her.
"Stay safe." She replied, smiling at him again. He was pretty sure that was the first time she had made such a comment when the team went out into the field and it left him wondering what it meant and why she had said it.
With the complexity of the case, Callen had little time to think about anything but work and because he spent most of the week in the field and away from the office, he wasn't around Nell much to see if she would say or do anything to indicate that she felt something more for him. It left him thinking that maybe this just wasn't a good idea and he should forget about whatever he thought might have been happening.
But when Friday rolled around and the team finally closed the case, an opportunity presented itself to Callen and he knew he couldn't turn it down.
The team had returned to OSP late afternoon and unusually for Hetty, she had told everyone to take off for the weekend, paperwork could wait until Monday. None of the team were going to look a gift horse in the mouth and no sooner were they back than they were grabbing their belongings and heading for the door.
"You still up for a few beers tomorrow night?" Sam asked as he slung his bag over his back.
"Sure, Murphy's at eight?" Callen checked. Sam nodded and made his way out, a little bounce in his step. Callen knew he was looking forward to spending some time with his kids, having been basically away from home the whole week.
"Kensi, Deeks, see you Monday." Callen nodded as they too made their way out behind Sam. He then turned to pick up his bag and noticed Nell sitting at one of the computer terminals at the back of the office. Even from a distance he could see she looked a little despondent.
"Hey Nell." He greeted her as he walked over. "You not going home? It's not often we get away early on a Friday."
"I'm leaving soon." She replied with a heaviness in her voice.
"Is something wrong? You sound upset." He heard her exhale a sigh.
"I was supposed to be going to this event at the Getty tonight with my friend Rachel. But she's just cancelled on me." Nell tapped at the computer and brought up a flyer for the event.
"A Night at the Museum." Callen read. "What's that all about?" he asked as he placed one hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair, leaning in towards her to read the information on the screen.
"The museum is opened up after hours and they have a bar, a band playing, you can look at all the artwork..." she trailed off. "I was really looking forward to it." She closed the window down and started to shut off the terminal.
"You won't go by yourself?" Callen asked.
"I would, but it's just not the same without someone to share it with." Callen could see in her eyes how disappointed she was and before he could think twice about it, the words just fell out his mouth.
"I don't have any plans, I'll go with you." He realised just how surprised Nell was by his offer by the wide eyed look she gave him.
"You're not just offering because you feel sorry for me getting ditched, are you?" she asked with one raised eyebrow.
"Nah, I love the Getty but haven't had a chance to go for a while. I didn't even know they held events like this. It sounds like fun." He was also thinking it would be a perfect opportunity to spend more time with her and see if the feelings that had been stirred the week before resurfaced.
"Um, okay." Nell agreed. "Doors open at eight."
"How about I meet you there just before eight then?"
"Sure." Nell replied, still a little stunned. Last week he had invited her to dinner and now he was offering to join her for a night out.
"I'll see you in a few hours then." Callen smiled warmly at her then headed back to his desk to get his things and leave.
Nell watched him go, her heart racing. She had wanted all week to do or say something to let him know how she felt but with the case there just wasn't the opportunity, and if she were honest with herself, she was a little scared – there had been no real indication that he would reciprocate and she didn't want to make a fool of herself. But he had offered to go with her to this event, the second time they would be out alone outside of work and the second time he had been the one to instigate it. As she packed her own things to leave, she wondered if tonight would give her the sign she was looking for.
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