Thank you for your patience! Fixed the chapter so it's the right one now.

Chapter 4

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Deeks and Kensi head back to his apartment this time, she had extra clothes in her car and decided to stay with him today.

"Ham or bacon?" Deeks asks holding up two egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches. He looks at her, "Bacon, why did I even ask?"

She just laughs at how well he knew her. It did scare her a little though. "I'm going to take a quick shower first." she tells him as she heads off to his bathroom with her bag.

Deeks finishes microwaving the sandwiches and pours a tall glass of orange juice for each of them. "Wow, you're quick." he says as she walks out just as he sets the glasses on his little breakfast table in the kitchen.

She shrugs not having a reply to that. "Any news yet?"

"Nope, I'm sure we'll hear something soon though." he says as they sit down.

They eat in silence. She was still trying to forget what had happened and little things like him making breakfast weren't helping.

They settle on the couch after eating. She surprised both of them when she sat only inches away, pulling her feet up onto the couch beside her. He turned on one of the movie channels and she fell asleep before she even could figure out the storyline.

He decided to take the risk. He carefully maneuvered himself so he was laying on the outside of the couch facing her and she was between the back of the couch and his chest. He didn't want to practically commit suicide, so instead of wrapping his arm completely around her, he reached it over top of her and gripped the other side of the cushion, which also anchored him in place so he didn't fall. Soon he was asleep too.

He woke up first, but pretended to be asleep so she wouldn't freak out when she woke up.

She woke up and stirred a little. He felt it but didn't react. He kept his breathing slow and even, even he would have believed he was asleep except for the part of him that knew this wasn't a dream.

She froze when she felt his chest against hers and his arm on the other side of her gripping the couch cushion. She glanced up into his face and saw he was still sleeping. She didn't want to wake him up, so she just laid there and tried not to enjoy it too much, even though her heart was pounding harder than it did in one of the intense workouts in the gym. She took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. That didn't work when the only thing she could smell was him. She finally just closed her eyes again. She wasn't sleeping but at least when he woke up, he would leave and she could pretend this didn't happen.

He was surprised she wasn't pulling away like he'd expected. He was even more surprised when she relaxed again and seemed to go back to sleep though.

He knew better though. She was faking. Her eyebrows were moving and she kept biting her lip like she does when she's thinking about something.

He knew he shouldn't but he waited another half hour, liking her this close and not knowing when or if it would happen again made him not want to let her go.

Apparently she didn't want to either. He could feel her heartbeat beating faster and that almost made him smile, except if he did, she would know. He felt her head move again and closed his eyes and focused on looking like he was sleeping, because he knew she was watching him again.

She wanted so badly to wake him up and try to ignore this 'thing' again, but every time she tried to think of something to say, it always ended up sounding like the opposite.

Maybe she did want a thing...

God, NO! He's her partner, that can't happen.

Then again, there isn't really a rule, he's LAPD so...

No, still wouldn't work.

But maybe it could...

She was so confused. She didn't want to talk about it yet. That was for sure. But she also was liking this too much to wait too much longer.

Deeks finally decides to 'wake up' when she is still looking at him. He sees her quickly flick her eyes closed in an attempt to look like she's sleeping.

So he decides to play the card she just gave him, whispering so softly that she can barely hear him. "Kensi, I know you're awake."

She opens her eyes and looks into his as he pulls his arm away. "I didn't want to wake you." she says softly.

She doesn't move, her mind is screaming at her to run, run as fast as she can and not look back, but her body wasn't cooperating.

He had rolled onto his back, leaving her head resting on his shoulder as his arm went behind it and down her back, he wasn't going to push his limits, so he just brought his hand to rest on her side. Neither of them said anything, but neither moved either.

They both spoke at the same time,

"Kens"

"Deeks"

She looked up into his eyes and forgot what she was going to say. Thankfully he didn't.

"This stays here?" he asks.

She nods against his chest then smiles a little, knowing he understood.

He was just happy he knew why she said she didn't want to bring it up. She definitely felt the same way about him as he did about her, if the way she was snuggling closer and closer to him was any indication.

They didn't move until their phones began to ring about ten minutes later. She reached down in her sweatshirt pocket and pulled the phone out as they both sat up. She surprised him by leaning into him, stopping his attempt to get up. She held the phone between their ears so he could hear too.

"Hey, Kensi, it's Nell."

"Hi."

"Okay, so we did a little digging and you were right. There are two surveillance cameras hidden near the warehouse."

"So what now?"

"We're going to send in a couple temps. They're going to act like they're doing surveillance until you are all rested enough to be able to do the rest, which Hetty will tell you tomorrow."

"So when do we come in?" Kensi was confused by all of this.

"9 am. No earlier, Miss Blye. Please inform your partner about this." Came Hetty's voice.

"Okay. Bye." She ended the call.

"Wha... how... do you think..." She stutters.

"Hetty knows almost everything. But I don't think she knows this," he says gesturing between them, "has actually happened. She probably assumes we're doing what the original plan was, staying together so we can get to an emergency call out faster. Sam's probably staying at Callen's too."

She just nods and gets up. He immediately misses her next to him and follows her to the kitchen as they fix a late lunch. It was already after three.

After a quick lunch, they decide to take a walk around his house. He didn't live that far from a little part of town with all of the little shops and stands showing the area's true history.

"How often do you come down here?" she asks as about the tenth shop owner waves and says hello to him.

"I don't know, it depends, I used to take a jog and walk around down here for a while before heading home, but now I change my schedule a lot. Probably only once or twice a week now."

They stop on a corner with a teenager playing the guitar. He drops a five in the guitar case as they walk by. The kid smiles up at him as a thank you.

They are walking by a consignment boutique when Kensi stops and grabs his hand, stopping him dead in his tracks too. He looks at her for an explanation and she realizes they're still holding hands so she drops his. "see that necklace?" she says pointing.

"Yeah." he says inspecting it closer. It had an arrangement of stones in a tear drop shape around a small 'K' in the middle.

"I had one of those when I was little. My dad gave it to me when I turned seven."

"what happened to it?"

"I was seven, Deeks. I lost it. He figured it out when I wouldn't put it on for a party we were going to. I tried to say it was because I didn't want to break it, but then he went and checked my room and came back to me. He said he wasn't going to be mad if I lost it, but he was going to be if I lied to him. I felt horrible about it."

"Come on." He says leading her inside.

"What?"

"Let's look at it." she shrugs and follows him inside.

"Marty! Long time no see!" an older man with a thick German accent comes up to Deeks and gives him an awkward hug.

"Yeah, good to see you, Conrad."

"And who is this lovely lady?" Kensi smiles and extends her hand.

"I'm Kensi."

"Friend of Marty?"

"Uh, yeah." she says.

"How can I help you today?"

"Well, we were walking by and she saw the necklace in the front window. She used to have one just like it from her dad."

"Oh, that is a special necklace, I can tell. Hold on." Conrad unlocks the display case and brings the necklace to the counter.

"It was brought in here many years ago. This style, the golden letters and such, went 'out of style', as you young folks would say. It's been in storage and I've seen people wearing them again and remembered it in the back. Finally found it again after searching for a good hour or two."

While talking he'd pulled out a magnifying glass.

She knew what it was before he even told them.

"It has a little engraving on the back of the tear drop here. It says "No matter how fa..."

Kensi cuts him off. "No matter how far away I am, my home is wherever you are, Baby Girl." both Deeks and Conrad look at her.

"So this is..." Deeks starts.

"Yeah." Kensi says and he can see her holding back the tears. "I'll be right back." she says as she heads to the bathroom.

"Is she okay?"

"Honestly, I don't know. She doesn't really get emotional often."

"So her dad gave her this?"

"Yeah, she lost it when she was little. Her dad was killed when she was fifteen." Deeks' voice had the sound of the hurt he felt for her. Her dad had been good, unlike his, but still was dead.

"Oh." Conrad seems to understand the situation a little more now.

Kensi comes back from the bathroom and she has collected herself. "Here, this is yours, take it." Conrad says handing it over.

"Oh, no. I couldn't. How much..."

"Really, Kensi, it's okay. I forgot I even had it, I think I actually have another similar to this back there somewhere." he says placing the jewelry box in her hand.

"Okay, thank you." she says clutching the small white box and giving him an appreciative smile.

Kensi and Deeks leave the shop. "You want to head back now?" She doesn't answer. "Hey, Kens, are you okay?"

"What?... oh, yeah. I'm fine." she replies coming out of her daze.

"Kensi..."

"Sorry, it's just, it's still hard, you know. I mean, my mom's here now... but, I don't know..." she trails off. He's been guiding her into the little park and they sit down by the stream.

"what?" she looks up at him. She can't quite explain it.

After a long pause she stares back down at the little waterfalls in the stream. She takes a deep breath. "I don't talk about him much, you know that. But it's not because I don't want to remember him. It's just that I don't feel like anyone understands. My mom tries, but it seems to just make me more upset when she talks about him. She left him. She can't understand what I went through."

"Kens.."

"No, Deeks, listen." She looks back at him, then smiles. "Actually, that's where I was going with this. I don't talk about this stuff with anyone else. I know you don't completely understand, but I can tell you try. And you don't try to feel bad for me, but feel the hurt with me. I heard what you told Conrad and how you said it." she pauses to collect her thoughts. "I guess I'm trying to say...thank you."

"Kensi, you don't have to thank me. That's what partners are for."

"No, partners have each others backs in the field. You and me, it's different."

"How so?" he asks grinning. She realizes what she just said.

"Deeks..."

"Kensi."

She gives him a teasing glare. "You know what I meant."

"Actually, I'm a little confused by the whole thing." he says seriously.

"me too." she says still staring him down. He doesn't push any more. He wants to, but he's not going to make her say something she's not ready for, he doesn't even know if he's ready for it.

They wait there in silence, Kensi leaning with her head on his shoulder, until it starts to get dark. He feels her shiver and wraps his other arm around her front, pulling her into a hug. They stand up to start walking back.

"Well, I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow then?" Kensi says as she walks towards the door with her stuff.

"Yup, bright and early at nine."

"You know that's not even early compared to most jobs?"

"Yes, well most jobs aren't as physically exhausting. Saving the world and all is cool, but even super heroes need sleep." she rolls her eyes.

"So, do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?" she asks.

"Uh, sure."

She walks out, feeling strangely empty. Even through the teasing, it felt... different. Like she felt like she should have kissed him goodnight, which was completely crazy! Why would she want to kiss him. Well she knew why, but if she denied it long enough, maybe she would believe it. Yeah, right! She's been denying it for two plus years already.

Her revelation brought a whole new set of fears and made her want to raise a few more walls to replace the ones he'd already broken. She didn't know if she could though. He'd already made it through so many.