15. "Shouldn't you be with him/her?"
A/N: I think I wrote a drabble for this prompt before, but we'll try again.
"Deeks, you're here late," Callen commented. He'd been on his way out when he noticed a light on in the bullpen.
"Kensi had a late OT session," Deeks explained as he grabbed a stack of papers that had been sitting in his inbox since Kensi was injured.
"Then shouldn't you be with her?" Deeks breathed in deeply, pursing his lips.
"Nope. Kensi said she could handle it on her own. In fact, I think her exact words were, "I don't need you."
Callen frowned at the frustration and hurt in his teammate's tone. He normally left the heart-to-hearts to Sam, but his partner wasn't here and Deeks clearly needed to talk to someone. Or at least vent.
Sighing, Callen grabbed a chair and sat down across from Deeks.
"Ok, what's going on?"
"Just what I said, Kensi doesn't want me to go to therapy with her." Callen raised an eyebrow and he added, reluctantly, "Actually, she doesn't want to do anything with me. Ever since her mobility improved, she does everything by herself."
"Well, it makes sense that she wants to be independent after everything that happened," Callen pointed out reasonably. Even though he'd started this conversation, he already felt way out of his depth.
"I realize that," Deeks said, the frustration in his voice boiling over. "I'm beyond proud and amazed at all she's accomplished in the past few months, but it feels like we barely spend time together anymore. Last week she wouldn't let me go surfing with her."
"I'm sorry, man," Callen said, not sure what else to say. He really should have left this to Sam. Or Nell. Pretty much anyone else.
"I'm trying not to take it personally. But I miss her." Deeks sighed again and pressed his palms over his eyes. Reaching out tentatively, Callen squeezed Deeks' shoulder. Even with the brief touch he could how tense Deeks was. He'd assumed everything was returning to normal now that Kensi was mostly recovered.
"I don't know what to tell you, but I have faith that you guys will work things out. I bet Kensi just needs a little more time to adjust. And until then, we're all here for you. Both of you."
"Thanks, Callen," Deeks said, smiling weakly. He sighed again and shoved the reports to the center of his desk. "I should probably go home. This stuff isn't making sense anyway."
"Get some sleep," Callen suggested as Deeks slowly made his way to the door, his shoulders hunched with stress and exhaustion. He just hoped he given Deeks the right advice.
A/N: just want to say that I'm not Kensi bashing here.