Chapter 10

After Eric had finally paid the bill at the restaurant, hand in hand the two lovebirds went back to his car and even if Nell tried her very best to get the information out of him, he wouldn't say what the big surprise was this evening. He certainly had been totally on cloud nine the entire evening; it was really hard concentrating on driving the whole time because he was still now blown away by the stunning outfit that Nell wore tonight. He always loved her outfits she wore at work but tonight was different, maybe because of their first official date as a couple and Nell had wanted to look extra nice tonight.

"You're excited about the surprise I have for you tonight Rockstar?" Eric asked his girlfriend without looking away from the road, knowing how easily he would start to drool when he would look at her now and he certainly didn't want to embarrass himself in front of the girl of his dreams. Nell on the other side was completely elsewhere with her thoughts, so she didn't register the question at first but after a while she finally said: "Yes I'm really excited and the evening has been wonderful so far, thanks for that. On my personal rating scale for date you definitely get a hundred from me and that's because you have been so kind and caring, helping me through this difficult time and I honestly don't know what I would have done without you." Eric was certainly flattered by that comment, he was glad that his support meant that much to her and as he had to stop at a red light, he shortly turned around to face her and said: "No need to thank me, you would have probably done the same thing for me." She gave him short peck on his cheek, brightly smiled at him and as green light finally signaled them to continue their drive she said: "Don't be too modest Beale; you're such a great guy and the best partner ever."

"Thanks Rockstar." Eric replied as they took another turn with the car, getting closer and closer to his big surprise he had in store for tonight. They finally reached their destination, Eric asked Nell to close her eyes and he took her then by the hand and led her all the way. After some minutes of walking through the grass Nell asked: "I probably sound like a whining little kid but: "When are we there?" She then made her best sad face in Eric's direction, that made Eric certainly laugh a little and then he finally answered: "Just a little further in that direction Rockstar." Nell reluctant did as she was told and a few minutes later Eric indicated her to stop by softly touching her shoulder and that touch of his hand sent a very positive chill up her spine and right up to Cloud Nine. His touch almost had become something like a drug to her, but she was quickly interrupted in her train of thought as Eric instructed her to open her eyes and she did she was at first totally stunned by the wonderful sight in front of her. She looked up into the clear night sky at the stars and finally said: "Wow! That's a beautiful sight Eric, thanks for bringing me here." The two lay down in the grass, Nell softly rested her head on her boyfriend's front and he had wrapped one arm around her tiny body and together they enjoyed the wonderful sight of the sky they had at this evening.

During the evening Eric saw a Star lite coming by and said to Nell while pointing at it: "Look there's a star lite Rockstar." Nell quickly looked into the direction he pointed at, looked at the star lite the whole time till it had passed and then he asked her: "What did you wish for yourself?" Nell grinned at him and while playfully hitting him a little with her hand she answered: "I can't tell you that silly, or else the whish won't come true." With a big grin on his face he then said: "So you don't want to tell me huh? I think I have to work my special "interrogation techniques" on you, to get the information I want." Before Nell could do anything, he rolled her on her back and started to tickle her. She had to laugh so much, some tears of joy made her way down her cheeks and even she tried best to get out of this mess by begging Eric wouldn't stop. They fooled around a little more by rolling each other through the grass, didn't care about the fact that they probably got each other's clothes dirty in the process and time got unimportant to them right at this moment. After the two were finally out of breath, Eric helped her up from the ground and together they watched the moon go down before they finally went back to Eric's Honda. Hand in Hand the two NCIS techies enjoyed the whole walk back to the car in a comfortable silence and Eric was definitely the happiest person ever right now at this moment. He surely had dreamed of this since a special bond had been established between them, surely It had been weird to work with her at OSP at first because Eric had been used to working alone for a long time but after a while he couldn't imagine a work day at NCIS without Nell anymore. She certainly had some weird habits, like she used to finish his sentences when she first had started working with him but she was a very smart person, even smarter than him what had shocked him a little in the first place.

Flashback

Nell and Eric sat at their usual workstations like always, even if she had been working on something the whole she surely had heard about Sam's missing Challenger and that Eric had the "pleasure" of searching it for the former Navy Seal.

Eric was surely frustrated about not having found Sam's car yet, so he turned to Nell and said in a clearly frustrated tone: "I can't believe that I can find this jeep but not Sam's challenger."

"If it's on the road it will show up, I mean nothing can hide from Kaleidoscope."

As he stared just blankly at the Computer screen, not reacting to her question she asked: "You have started a Kaleidoscope search?" Eric now turned away from his computer and answered: "Not exactly, I hacked myself into the LAPD Database and when it's found I will get notified."

"So what are we waiting for?"

"We?" Eric asked a little confused about Nell's question

"I mean: You."

"But Hetty said to Sam, to not use any federal resources for private matters." Eric pointed out to his co worker

"Is that the same rebel that completed Level 5 of Warriors Quest on the big screen of OPS? The same rebel that ate Oreo's at ops without a napkin and broke the Internet?" Nell asked

"Ok Beale let's do this!" Eric answered now ready to go

End Flashback

As they had reached Eric's Honda, he opened her the door on her side like a real gentleman always does and as they made their way back home both of them were totally lost in their thoughts about the wonderful evening they had spent together.

AN: Thanks to- Miss tarletone for adding this story to her favorite stories list and to Pondera 2.0 for reviewing the story. I hope you like this chapter, please read and review.

Any constructive suggestions to improve the story are more than welcome and I will try my best to integrate them into the story.