A/N: Prompt 17 from the angst/fluff list: "I can't sleep, can I stay here?"
Set leading up to the 6x03 when Kensi and Deeks wake up on the couch. Maybe a couple months post Impact.
It was 11 o'clock at night and Kensi was curled up on her couch in front of some generic reality show. ANTM was on hiatus and, surprisingly, none of her many cable channels was running a marathon. The show was barely keeping her interest, but she was too keyed up from the day (not to mention the half pint of salted caramel ice cream she'd consumed) to sleep.
She was halfway through an episode with some guy who was in love with his car when she heard a familiar knock on the front door. Kensi glanced around the room, eyeing the discarded ice cream tub, an empty plate and a sweat shirt. Then she shrugged and went to open the door. Deeks had seen way worse in her apartment, cleaning up was pretty pointless.
"Hey partner," she greeted him. "What's up?"
"What, you're not delighted to be gifted with my presence?" he quipped, adding in what Hetty would have called a cheeky grin.
"Not when it's 11 and we have work in the morning," Kensi said, even though she felt less restless than she had a minute ago. Even so, she crossed her arms and adopted a dubious expression.
"Hey, I brought you your favorite burger, and French fries." He lifted a bag up, shaking it temptingly.
"Again it's 11."
"That's never stopped you before," he pointed out.
"Deeks…" she said warningly. He sighed deeply, tossing his head back so his bangs were momentarily out of his eyes.
"Fine. I was at home and…" He paused, pulling in a short breath, finally completely serious and open. "I can't sleep, can I stay here?" Kensi could have said any number of things. She could have teased him, told him to go home, or asked why he couldn't sleep.
"Of course," she said instead, opening the door wider and gesturing him in. Really it seemed a formality now after all the time they'd spent together. They'd just never addressed it so openly before.
It reminded her of the night she'd appeared on his doorstep with bad Chinese takeout and a whole lot of desperation. They hadn't really spent that much time at each other's place since then and she felt ever so slightly apprehensive.
Deeks smiled gratefully, handing the bag to Kensi as he headed for the couch.
"Sweet, what are we watching?" Kensi made a disgusted sound.
"I don't know, some god awful thing where people eat cat food and drink nail polish," she told him, turning the sound up. Deeks looked mildly surprised by that but recovered quickly.
"Sounds interesting. But why are you watching it if it's so terrible?"
"Because there's nothing else on."
"Makes perfect sense," Deeks teased, grinning at her.
"Shut up and get me a beer." She nudged him over a bit, grabbing a pillow and settled in.
Kensi woke in the middle of the night, not having any memory of falling asleep. Deeks had his head resting on her knee, the rest of his long body curled up on half the couch and her right hand was curled in his hair.
She very carefully removed her fingers one by one. Deeks didn't so much as budge, but sighed in his sleep. A grin slowly spread across her face and she shifted into a more comfortable position.
Tomorrow she could worry about why she felt so content. For now, she intended to sleep.
