A/N – This was not part of the original story but I had several people ask for an epilogue and that started me thinking. This is the result. I can't believe it ended up being three additional chapters! Hope you like it! Please let me know either way.
Thanks to everyone for their reviews so far!
Special thanks to OhBuddy66 for the encouragement and suggestions about Hetty and Meaghan! They were great and I shamelessly used them!
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Chapter 7
Deeks woke to the smell of doggy breath. He opened his eyes to stare into Monty's. He'd swear the dog seemed to be laughing at him. He moved a little and was rewarded by a grunt in his ear. Looking down he found an arm slung across his waist, his partner wedged in behind him on the couch, sound asleep. He sighed. They'd fallen asleep on the couch again. At least the television was off this time. Monty pawed at him, dragging his attention away from Kensi and back to him.
"You need to go out Monty?" he asked quietly. The dog woofed gently and headed towards the door, looking back over his shoulder as if to say "Hurry!" Deeks gently extricated himself from Kensi's arm and got up off the couch. She mumbled something and snuggled back in, taking up more of the couch now that he was gone. Smiling he padded into his bedroom and dug out a pair of flip flops. Moving quietly through his living room, he snatched up the leash and hooked it to Monty's collar. Opening the door, he looked back at Kensi, wondering that the sight of a woman, this woman, sleeping on his couch could fill him with such contentment. He closed the door silently behind him.
Kensi's eyes opened the moment she heard the door snick closed. She'd woken when Deeks had asked Monty if he wanted to go out but hadn't wanted him to know, pretending to still be asleep. Now that he was gone, she had a mission. He always took Monty to the beach so she figured she had a good 15-20 minutes before he was back. Getting up, she headed towards his bedroom, knowing she was going snooping but feeling no remorse. He snooped around her apartment, as evidenced by his comments a couple weeks ago about the 'girly' magazines under her sink in the bathroom. Yes, this might be a bit more snoopy than that, but that wasn't going to stop her. Last night, when she'd asked him about playing the violin for her, his eyes had flicked unconsciously towards his bedroom and she was sure she'd find said violin in there somewhere.
She entered the bedroom and went straight to the closet. She had always envied him this closet. It was deep and long and while he used most of it for storage, she would have filled it with clothes and shoes. She figured this would be the most likely place she would find what she was looking for. She opened the doors and was momentarily side tracked by the sight of his clothes hanging there. She reached out and ran a hand down the sleeve of one of his shirts, her favorite one. Realizing she was wasting time, she started to dig into the back, moving boxes that were neatly stacked and marked. She grinned; he was so neat and organized, a marked contrast to his shaggy hair and scruff. Moving one more stack of boxes, she found what she was hunting for. Sitting all the way in the back were two music cases. The smaller one was obviously the violin but she pulled them both out and placed them on his bed. She then sat to wait for him and Monty to return.
Deeks opened his front door expecting to find Kensi still asleep where he had left her. The couch was empty. The bathroom door was open so he knew she wasn't in there. He went into the kitchen, after taking the leash off Monty and hanging it back in its place, figuring he'd find her rummaging through his cabinets for something to eat. He kept several boxes of pop tarts just for her. Monty followed, wagging his tail. Not finding Kensi there either, he started to wonder if she'd gone home. He hadn't noticed whether the SRX was still outside or not.
"Kens?" he called out.
"In the bedroom!" was the response. Well, at least she hadn't left without a word but what was she doing in his bedroom? He quickly poured some kibble in Monty's dish and left the dog happily chowing down. He paused in the doorway to the bedroom, taking in the sight of her sitting on his bed before realizing what was on it beside her.
"What…? You snooped!" he exclaimed. She just grinned back at him unrepentantly. "Why would you do that Kensi?" not smiling back at her.
Her smile dimmed a little and she started to explain. "I was afraid you'd try to put off playing for me again. I wanted to be sure you didn't get the chance. Deeks, you played so beautifully and I just wanted to hear more. I never thought I would enjoy listening to classical music on the violin, but your playing made me feel….just made me feel!"
Now he smiled back at her, taken by the sincerity in her voice. "I told you I'd play for you Fern. I meant it. I just didn't think it would be at 8 AM on a Saturday morning! The surf is awesome! I figured we could go hit the beach for a few hours."
"I'll go to the beach with you later if you play for me now." she bargained.
Sighing he made his way over to the bed. He ran a hand over the smaller case holding the violin. Opening it carefully, he pulled the instrument out for the first time in years. He gently plucked the strings and, as expected, found it very out of tune. Putting it to his chin, he carefully tuned it. Looking up, he found Kensi watching every movement of his fingers, fascinated. Once the violin sounded right to his ears, he drew the bow across the strings once and then launched into Moonlight Sonata again, watching her eyes widen as his fingers moved up and down the fingerboard, her mouth dropping open slightly. He closed his eyes and leaned into the music, losing touch with the room around him, but always knowing she was there.
When he was done, he opened his eyes and met hers. "That was beautiful Deeks! Play something else!" Deciding to surprise her, he launched into Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. Her mouth dropped open when she recognized the song and then she grinned, gaining a new appreciation for both the instrument and the man playing it. When he finished, he put the violin back into the case. Disappointed, she asked "You aren't going to play anymore?"
He smiled at her. "Not today Princess. I'm out of practice and need to build up my muscles and calluses again before I can play much more than a couple songs in one sitting. If you want me to, I can work towards that."
"Yes! I'd like that so much!" she quickly responded. Looking over at the larger case, she grinned. "How about playing me something on the guitar from your Touching Wood days?" Laughing he opened the other case and pulled out the acoustic guitar, an instrument that saw the light of day more often than the violin. Knowing it was in tune, as he taken care of that just a couple weeks ago, he sat on the bed next to her and rested it on his lap.
"Any requests?" he asked. She shook her head no. Thinking about it, he decided on one of his favorites and played the opening chords to Turn the Page by Bob Seger. He began to sing quietly while he played, pleased when she joined in. When he finished the last chord, he looked over at her and said "Not quite techno music but you seemed to know all the words!"
"I love that song!" she said, smiling widely. She put her hand on his arm and said "I think you earned your beach time surfer boy!" Grinning back at her, he stood up and put the guitar back in its case. Picking up both cases he put them back in the closet. She noticed immediately that he placed them at the front, not hidden away in the back like before. She had a feeling that she would be getting serenaded again before too long. Maybe she could talk him into teaching her some basics.
Coming back to the bed, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "You left a bikini here last time, Sugar Bear. I'll let you have the bedroom to change and I'll use the bathroom, unless you don't mind sharing?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively. She punched him in the arm in response. Laughing, he turned and rummaged in the dresser, pulling out her bikini and handing it to her, then grabbing his board shorts. "Last chance." he said, walking slowly out of the bedroom. She slammed the door shut as her answer, laughing.
They spent hours on the beach, surfing, swimming, sun bathing, enjoying each other's company. They bought lunch from one of their favorite food trucks and devoured it. They finally headed back to his place when the sun started to set, stopping for take out on the way. After showering, they settled in to eat and have another movie marathon. Neither questioned whether they would spend the time together or not, it just was, like most weekends.
Around 11:30 his cell rang, startling him out a doze on the couch, Kensi's head in his lap, snort snoring, though she insisted she did NOT snore. Picking up the phone, he recognized the number. Answering it, he said "Marty Deeks."
"Marty? Oh thank God you answered! We need help Marty! I'm so scared."
