A/N: Thanks to everyone who has commented, especially to my guest reviewers, since I can't reply to you all.

Friends. Deeks rolled the word around in his head a few times as he replied to an email. Friends totally met for coffee and texted each other throughout the day (and evening), right?

He and Kensi had been chatting off and on since she gave him her number. Even after just a few days, he'd come to appreciate her various anecdotes shared during far too short breaks and the increasingly ridiculous pictures she found to send at random intervals.

To his right, his phone flashed with a new message, and he resisted the urge to check it immediately. He usually had significantly better self-control than this, but with Kensi he completely lost his cool. It almost felt like he was 16 again.

Deeks worked for another 10 minutes before giving in and reading her latest text.

"I just had a student start telling another student every bad word he knows."

"Please tell me it wasn't Caleb." Deeks replied, easily imagining his son calling up all the curse words adults had unintentionally said in his presence.

"No, not him. But you probably need to have a talk with him later cause he and several other kids were extremely curious."

"Thanks for the heads up. Totally hasn't heard any of those things from me."

"Yeah, you're such a saint."

"Ooh, somebody's happy for a change," a sarcastic voice observed.

Deeks sighed as he looked up to find Talia DeCampo leaning in his doorway. "Should I be worried?"

"Nope, just up to my usual deprived activities," Deeks answered glibly, tapping to lock his screen even though Talia couldn't see his phone from this angle.

The first day they were introduced, Talia had looked him up and down, given him a taunting smirk, and informed him he would do. Since then, their relationship had consisted of trading barbs and Talia's frequent unsolicited advice.

"Now that is hilarious, Deeks." Talia was considered one of the top lawyers with the firm, but right now Deeks could tell she had nothing but mischief on her mind. From day one, she seemed to take great joy in teasing him. "Seriously, who are you talking to? You've been glued to your phone all day."

"I'm just catching up with a friend, Talia," Deeks told her, giving the bare minimum with the hope that she would be satisfied and find someone more entertaining to antagonize.

"Well, your "friend" makes you smile like an idiot. I haven't seen you look this happy since you started here," Talia observed.

"Maybe that's because the majority of the time you're calling me names and generally abusing me," Deeks replied without any real heat behind the words. He liked Talia. In a purely surface level coworker way. And in small increments.

"Oh please, don't pretend you don't give back just as good as you get," Talia said, dismissing his observation with a roll of her eyes. A gleam creeping into her eyes, she leaned across over his desk. "So, what's her name?"

"Yeah, not talking about this with you," Deeks told her, slipping his phone into his pocket without replying to Kensi's latest text, not trusting Talia to not snatch it from him.

"Oh, c'mon Deeks, who else are you going to talk to?" She paused to let it settle in. "I swear I'm not messing with you this time." Deeks eyed here for a moment, deciding that her intentions seemed genuine.

"Fine, her name is Kensi. And that is all you need to know."

"Ah, so I was right, it is a woman," Talia said triumphantly. Rounding his desk, she leaned over his shoulder, gesturing for him to continue. "Ok, show me a picture."

"No!"

"If she's just a friend, you wouldn't object this much," she pointed out shrewdly and Deeks shook his head, chuckling softly. "I thought a guy who worked for the CIA would be better at lying."

"Once again, I did not work for the CIA, but nice try. Would you care to try another member of the alphabet? And for the record, I didn't need to lie because in addition to being highly reputable and ethical, I was also extremely effective," Deeks rattled off.

He saw Talia open her mouth to object, before her eyes tightened, and she gave him a knowing look.

"Nice attempt to deflect, Deeks. You almost got me, but you can't distract me."

"Talia DeCampo, have I ever mentioned how annoying you are?" he asked conversationally.

"Repeatedly. But you don't hate me, which is all that matters." Deeks inclined his head, neither confirming nor denying her statement. "Alright, picture time." She clapped her hands together and rested her forearms on his back while she waited for him to follow her command. From anyone else, her lack of personal space would be concerning, but Deeks knew she really didn't mean anything by it.

Knowing it was probably a bad idea, Deeks kept his phone turned away from Talia while he found a school picture and zoomed in until only Kensi was visible.

"Ok, here you go."

"Oh my god, she's gorgeous!" Talia exclaimed loudly.

"Talia!" Deeks hissed back, glancing towards his open door. She ignored him, grabbing his phone to get a better look.

"Oh please, no one else is even around. How dare you keep this to yourself," she continued. "If I knew you were seeing someone this hot, I wouldn't have made nearly as much fun of you."

"Well, some of us do like to keep our personal lives private," Deeks drawled, giving her a pointed look. "And, we're not dating."

"Hey, I don't have time for shame or subtlety." She shrugged, ignoring Deeks' snort. "And why the hell not?"

"I told you, we're just friends." He didn't mention the added complication of Kensi being Caleb's teacher; she'd have an absolute field day with that.

"Oh, like either of us believe that, Deeks," Talia said derisively. "I've seen your polite smile, I've seen your genuine smile, and I've seen your "I'm going eviscerate you with just a few words" smile. The way you were smiling when I walked in, I've never seen before. Not even when you talk about your kid."

"Talia…"

"Crap, I have a meeting in two minutes," she interrupted as her phone dinged with a notification. "I have to go, but we'll talk later about getting you this date."

She flashed him a smile that said she knew exactly how annoying she was being and ruffled his hair before making a quick exit.

Sighing, Deeks ran his hand back through his hair. Maybe he could fake an extended illness to avoid Talia's matchmaking attempts.

Car pickup was well underway when Kensi saw Deeks' truck pull into the parking lot. He'd told her it was a busy day at the office, so she wasn't overly surprised he was on the later side.

When Deeks finally reached the front of the line, everyone else had already been picked up and Caleb was regaling her with his plans for the night. Apparently, lasagna was on the menu and he was beyond excited.

"Hey Kiddo, did you have a good day?" Deeks asked as he rolled to a stop, and Kensi opened the door so Caleb could hop in. He reached over to brush down a few unruly curls at the back of Caleb's head.

"Uh-huh. I made a fish in art," Caleb answered happily.

"And what about you Miss Blye?" Deeks added, offering a slow smile to match his drawl. The effect had her momentarily speechless.

"Good," she finally managed. "We finally finished testing today."

"And we had cookies for Jemma's birthday," Caleb shared, clearly finding that more exciting and relevant that any test. "We're still having lasagna tonight even though grandma can't come, right?" He gave Deeks an adorably worried look.

"You bet. We never cancel lasagna or pizza night unless it's a national emergency," Caleb giggled at Deeks' assurance, then side-eyed Kensi.

"Then can Miss Blye come for dinner?"

"Uh…"

Caleb hurried on before Deeks could formulate a response. "Cause we'll have so much and it'll be just you and me. Besides, you always say I can have a friend over if I want."

"Caleb, I think your dad was probably talking about someone from your class," Kensi said gently. His face dropped a little.

"Actually, you're completely welcome," Deeks told her. "Caleb's right, we always have plenty of extra food. We'd love to have you if you want." He sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth. "Though I can't promise that my recipe will live up to Caleb's high praise."

"You really don't have to invite me," Kensi told him. "I know you didn't plan on this."

"You're right, I didn't, but that doesn't make my offer any less genuine." He stared back at her without any hesitation or dishonesty in his eyes.

"Well, then I'd love to," Kensi found herself saying. "What should I bring?"

A/N: And things are moving right along in this little world. Hope you enjoy!

And yes, Caleb does appear to be attempting a slight parent trap-esque situation.