WOW I'm so so so sorry time slipped away from me a little. I have just had my massive exams so I was a little caught up in that. Enough excuses so here is the next chapter…
"What?! What would make you ask that?" Nell shrieked a red flush coming to her cheeks.
"Oh I don't know… the way that young man over there is standing awkwardly at the window looking as if he wants to run away from here, and not to mention your flaming face!" Her mother casually stated looking Nell directly in her eyes. " And don't bother lying to us, you were a terrible liar when you were little… and you still are."
"Fine, and just for the record my face is not on fire." Nell admitted "This is Eric, Eric meet my parents Caroline and Robert."
"H-hi, nice to meet you" Eric stuttered out in greeting to Caroline and Rob.
"So tell me about yourself" Caroline urged getting into her mother mode and dragged Eric down on the couch to where they had both been sleeping not 10 minutes ago. "What do you do? How did you and Nell meet? How old are you" She asked in rapid fire ignoring Eric's look of unease.
"Honey, give the poor boy a break, he just met us." Robert said defending poor Eric who was sitting on the couch looking longingly towards the door. Mumbling a 'thank you' towards Robert, Eric stood and walked up to Nell whispering in her ear.
"I have to get to OPS."
"Ok, I'll see you later?" Nell asked him, ignoring her parent questioning face.
"Yeah definitely, if you need me call me. And I mean anything ok?" Eric reminded her knowing this was probably the worst timing for her parents to show up.
"Are you going?" Caroline inquired analysing her daughter's interaction with this man she just met.
"Uh yeah, sorry I have to get to…work." Eric replied carefully not mentioning anything to do with NCIS.
"Oh, where do you work?" Robert asked jumping in
"I'm a TV editor, I work with Nell." He replied knowing that was the cover she used with her parents. "See you guys later." He said in parting, exiting out Nell's door to avoid any more prying questions, he was a terrible liar. As soon as he was out the door he leant against the wall and put his head in his hands. It was going to be a long week.
"Hey man, why you late today?" Deeks questioned as he walked in the door to OSP.
"No reason." He shrugged, feigning ignorance.
"Come on dude, you're a terrible liar, what happened?" the detective pried, blocking Eric's path up to his safe haven.
"Urgh fine, Nell's parents surprised her this morning by turning up at her door and they have me a little freaked out. And it was like only" He looked at his watch, "12 hours ago that Nell made a…revelation. Dude, I don't know what to do." Eric rambled opening the floodgates.
"Woah ok so first things first. I thought you didn't stay the night with her. I thought you checked on her and brought her food. Second, how is my little brain doing today? And third, calm down" Deeks responded checking things off on his fingers. It took a moment for Eric to reply, he had to be careful with what he said around Deeks because he knew that if he said the wrong thing Deeks would interpret it badly.
"Ok first, yes I stayed late night, it was late by the time I got there and she wanted me to stick around. Secondly, she's doing ok, she WANTS to get better and to stop being afraid of the little things so she is determined which is good. And thirdly how can I not be freaked out. I mean what do we say if they ask her why her room is like a bomb has gone off and why she isn't at work and why she is afraid of loud noises? There is so much that can go wrong with them being here!" Eric panicked, hoooo boy this was a bad idea, maybe he should have just called in sick today so he could be with Nell.
"Dude, you'll figure it out. Why don't you ask Hetty if you can take a day off to take care of Nell? To be honest though bro, you look like you need it too. You've been working twice as hard to keep up with your work as well as Nell's. We can cope without you for a day." The detective alleged, pushing Eric towards Hetty's desk where she was working. He tripped and stumbled his way up to Hetty causing her to glance up and watch him make his approach.
"Everything okay Mr Beale?"
"Um, yeah… I'm fine… I was…" He stuttered unable to gain the confidence. In all his years that he had been working for OSP, he had never asked for a day off.
"Take a deep breath Mr Beale" Hetty interjected
"Uh ok, I was w-wondering if I could take a day off. I'd like to be there for Nell today, her parents showed up this morning and I don't know how she will cope."
"Of course Mr Beale, why did you not just text me this morning. And how is Ms Jones doing these days?"
"Oh thanks Hetty and Deeks kind of convinced me to ask. Nell's doing ok, she wants to get better so she can get back to work and not be affected by what she would most likely see and hear."
"Uuhh yes, of course. How much longer do you think she needs?"
"Maybe give her a 2 more weeks, she's getting there."
"I can do that. Now get out of here Mr Beale and I don't want to see you until Monday okay?"
Eric perked up at this, "Seriously Hetty, thank you so much." He stood up and ran back out of the mission and jumped in his car, racing back to Nell's.
As Eric pulled up at Nell's he got his key ready for her door and raced up to the elevator, waiting for it impatiently. He slotted the key in the key hole and turned it, shoving the stubborn door open and making his way inside. He walked into the living room only to see Nell jump up and run to the bathroom, slamming the door in the process.
"Woah, what happened here?" Eric demanded to no-one in particular
"We were sitting here just talking and her shirt rode up when she went to grab something from the coffee table and sh-" Robert replied casting a wary look to the other man in the room
"Oh crap, please tell me you didn't ask about them?" He begged dropping his bag on the floor and making his way towards her bathroom.
"Of course we asked, we are her parents and when we see that sort of thing we get concerned." Caroline jumped in defending themselves.
"You have no Idea what you've just done." Eric retorted. "Nell open up please?" He started to knock on the door. "Nell, come on let me in, talk to me."
Behind him Robert and Caroline were quietly whispering to each other. What was going on here? How did their daughter get those marks. Who is Eric, really?
Completely oblivious to what was happening behind him, he started whispering sweet nothings through the door in an attempt to calm her down. Just as he was settling on the floor, the door unlocked and he jumped up, barging in and again slamming to door in Nell's parents faces.
How was it? Was it good? Let me know.