A/N: Takes place during the beginning of Kensi and Deeks' op for Neighborhood Watch.
Kensi sighed deeply for what had to be the 20th time, rolling onto her side and taking a good portion of the covers with her. She'd been more restless than the previous two night they'd shared a bed. Deeks glanced at his watch, which showed it was after 1 in the morning.
"Ok, what's wrong?" Deeks asked as she sighed yet again.
"Nothing," Kensi mumbled, the shadow of her shoulders squaring defensively.
"Well, you're keeping me awake." They'd had a long day pretending to be a happily married couple and he was exhausted. As fun as it was to play Justin to Kensi's Melissa, it required a lot of focus.
"Then maybe you should sleep in the guest room," she suggested, twisting her head enough to look over her shoulder. He didn't need to see her face to know she was annoyed with him. Again.
"Somehow I think that would ruin our image as a happily married couple," he pointed out, keeping his voice low just in case anyone was listening in. She sighed again. "Now why don't you tell your dear hubby what's wrong?" Kensi made a derisive sound, but flopped onto her back and reached to turn on the bedside lamp.
"I can't sleep because I can't get comfortable. Every time I almost doze off, something disturbs me." Deeks frowned at that; as far as he knew Kensi usually didn't have trouble sleeping.
"You want me to turn the air down," Deeks offered. It would be a bit warmer than he preferred, but if it would help Kensi, he was willing to do it.
"No, it's not that…I don't know what it is," she said, the frustration clear in her voice. Deeks knew how much it must be bugging her that she couldn't control this and force herself to sleep. Especially while he was there to witness it.
"We could always cuddle." As expected, his suggestion was met with a disgusted sound and a punch to the nearest extremity Kensi could reach, which turned out to be his right forearm.
"Deeks, I am not giving you an opportunity to fondle me," she said scathingly, moving to turn back on her side. Deeks started to reach to stop her, but thought better of it and dropped his hand by his side.
"I promise I have nothing lascivious in mind," he insisted. He expected Kensi to ignore him, but she actually rolled to face him again.
"Ok, if your mind isn't in the gutter, then how do you think "cuddling" is going to help me sleep?" She somehow managed to make cuddling sound like a dirty weird. She also looked as tired as he felt, eyes drawn and her forehead wrinkled in a way he associated with pain. Deciding it was worth risk of life and limb, he slowly reached out and smoothed the furrow between her eyebrows with his thumb.
"It's comforting. And I have it on very good authority that I'm an excellent cuddler."
"I'm sure," Kensi said wryly. "Which of your bikini bar friends told you that?"
"I don't cuddle and tell," he said, groaning and stretching his arms above his head. "And I promise that I won't take advantage of the situation."
Kensi squinted at him and he held his arms out invitingly.
"C'mon, you know you want to. Despite my finely muscled physique, I'm also surprisingly soft and pillow like." Kensi scrutinized him for another moment and then sighed again. She reached over and turned the light off again.
"Fine. I can't believe I'm doing this," she groaned, the sheets rustling as she scooted to the middle of the bed. Deeks' breath caught in his throat as she was suddenly right in front of him, less than an inch of space between them, her body radiating warmth. She hesitated for a moment and then slid her head onto his arm, edging closer until her face brushed his chest.
Tentatively, Deeks laid his palm in the curve of her waist, testing her reaction. Apparently it was all the encouragement Kensi needed as she curled the rest of her body around his. It was slightly ridiculous how well their bodies fit together.
"Mm, you smell nice," Kensi murmured into his chest. "Like your shampoo." It broke the tension rising between them and Deeks leaned his head back, chuckling.
"I think that's the most cliché thing you could have said right now," he said, still laughing a little. "Do I smell like sandalwood too?"
"Shut up." Despite her words, he could hear the smile in Kensi's voice. "You know I hate sandalwood."
"Yup, which is why I never, ever wear it." They were both silent for several minutes and Deeks thought she'd fallen asleep until she whispered,
"You were right, I do feel more relaxed." She sighed contentedly, snuggling a little closer.
"Good," he said, letting his hand curve more firmly around her back.
Nell shook her head as she listened to Kensi and Deeks' breathing even out. When would they learn to take their comms out before going to bed? Or at least before they had less than completely professional conversations. Of course, then they might never have them in.
They were just lucky that she'd pulled the night shift and not Sam or Callen. It wasn't a secret that Kensi and Deeks flirted outrageously at the best of times, but she had a feeling it wouldn't go over well if anyone found out they were now cuddling.
Pulling up the recording from their comms, she found their most recent conversation and cut it. If they kept this up, there wouldn't be any usable audio.
Over the comms, Kensi sighed Deeks name under her breath and Nell shook her head again. At least it made for interesting listening.