Zoë picked up the present from the table and opened it. Inside the box was a little note lying on top of something.
"You already have the key to my heart, here is a key to my house, to our home," Zoë read from the card and underneath the card was a key.
"I want you to move in with me," Callen said. "We spend almost all of our time together and I really enjoy spending time with you, so I would really love it if you'd move in with me."
She really didn't have to think long about this. She loved Callen and she loved spending time with him. She loved the idea of waking up next to him every morning. "On one condition," Zoë replied.
"Anything."
"That you at least get some furniture," Zoë replied with a smile.
Callen couldn't help but chuckle at Zoë's remark. "I think that can be arranged."
"Then I would love to."
"Really?" Callen asked with a smile.
"Yeah really," Zoë replied with a smile.
Callen leaned over to Zoë and gave her a kiss. "I love you," Callen said to her.
"I love you too."
They finished their meal and went home, after paying. Callen dropped Zoë off at her place and he went inside with her. As soon as the door was closed Zoë pulled Callen to her and kissed him. Callen wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her back. Callen kept kissing her as he led Zoë to her bedroom. He was so happy that Zoë was moving in with him. He absolutely loved her and he would enjoy it very much to wake up to her every morning.
…
That weekend they rented a truck to move Zoë's stuff over to Callen's place. Zoë's house was a rental so she had given notice that she was moving out. Since Zoë had a full set of furniture they decided to use that. With a few trips back and forth all the furniture and boxes where moved over to Callen's place, now his and Zoë's place. They put the furniture in it's right place. There now stood a two seater couch next to front door, against the wall, a coffee table in front of it and a chair in the corner right of the fireplace. The TV with TV-table stood on the right side of the double doors. In the room right of the door stood a dining room table with four chairs. In the room at the left back of the house stood a desk with a chair. The bed, nightstands and closet where placed in Callen's bedroom. In the kitchen stood a table with four chairs. The various decorations Zoë had were placed around the house or hung on the wall.
"Why do you sleep in this bedroom?" Zoë asked once they were done unpacking. "I mean it's not the biggest bedroom in the house.
"This was my bedroom when I lived here."
"With the Rostoff's?"
"Yeah, I stayed in this bedroom. It felt most comfortable to sleep in here again. If you don't like it we can change it."
"No, it's perfect," Zoë spoke as she walked up to Callen and wrapped her arms around his neck and Callen wrapped his around her waist. "Everything is perfect. I'm so happy to be living together with you."
"Me too."
"Do you think the others know about us already?"
"I don't know. Nobody has said anything but I think Hetty knows something, she always knows something."
"Maybe it's time we tell the others."
"I kinda like having you all to myself," Callen smirked as he pulled Zoë closer to him. "Maybe we wait just a little bit longer so the others, especially Hetty, know we can keep this out of the office and be professional at work."
"I think we've proved that already. But I guess we can wait a bit longer."
She knew how Callen was at these sort of things. He didn't like to share his personal life with the others. She was glad that he had shared his personal life with her and that they were now living together. This was the first step towards a beautiful future, Zoë was sure of that. She pulled Callen closer to her and kissed him. Callen kissed her back and gently lay her down on the bed. He was so happy to have her here and in his life. He was glad that they had taken this step together. It felt right to live together. They spent almost all of their time outside of work together so it was only logical to live together. Callen was happy she had said yes and moved in with him. He had never really lived with someone before but he was looking forward to live together with Zoë. And he had to admit, the house looked nicer with all the furniture and decorations in it. But most importantly, Zoë was now in his house too, their house. He loved her so much and he already couldn't imagine his life without her in it. Callen deepened the kiss and let his hands go over Zoë's body. He was gonna take his time with her right now, showing her how much he loved her and how happy he was to have her here with him.
About two hours later they lay spent in each other's arms, Zoë snuggled nicely against his chest and Callen had his arms around her.
"I love you G," Zoë said in a passionate voice.
"I love you too Zoë."
"Thank you for asking me to move in with you."
"Thank you for saying yes," Callen replied with a smile. "I'm really happy to have you here."
"Me too. I wish we could stay like this forever."
"Yeah me too."
"But we should probably get out and have some dinner."
"Yeah we probably should."
Zoë gave Callen one more kiss before she reluctantly pulled herself out of Callen's embrace and got dressed as Callen did the same. Zoë went into the kitchen to get started on dinner as Callen threw away some of the rubbish they had left from the move.
When Callen came back into the house he heard Zoë singing along to a song in the kitchen. He couldn't quite make out what she was singing, it was probably Dutch.
"Oh oh open je hart voor mij, breng me van mijlenver naar heel dichtbij. Dan voel je hoe oe hoeveel ik van…. Ongelofelijk veel van je houden kan," Zoë sang along.
Callen didn't understand much of it but it sounded nice to hear her sing along. He walked towards the kitchen and just stood there in the doorway watching her as she was cooking and singing along. Zoë turned around mid-song and saw Callen watching her from the doorway and she stopped singing. She looked at Callen as he was leaning against the doorway, watching her.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"A while. Don't stop on my account."
"I'm sorry, I usually sing along when I'm working in the kitchen."
"I don't mind. It sounded nice, though I couldn't understand a word of it, but it sounded nice. It was Dutch right?"
"Yeah it's a Dutch song."
"What were you singing, what does it mean?"
"Open your heart to me, bring me from miles away to very close. Then you can feel how much, how I can you love so very much," Zoë started to translate the song for Callen.
She translated the entire song for song. It was actually a song that fitted her and Callen very well.
"It's one of my favorite songs from them."
"Are they popular in Holland?"
"Oh yes very. They come from the town of Volendam, from that city comes a lot of music."
A few minutes later they sat down to eat. After dinner they cleaned up together before they sat down on the couch to watch some TV. It was actually nice to be here together with Zoë, he loved her so much and now they were living together. Callen really loved where his life was going to at the moment. He never thought he would have this but now he did and he couldn't be happier. He was glad that he had finally found someone who loved him too for who he was, not just an alias, but really for who he was, federal agent all. What had most surprised Callen was that he had fallen in love with a shrink. He had never liked talking to shrinks because they kept fishing for answers he didn't even know himself. But with Zoë it was so different, she had pushed him to open in but in a way that was okay for Callen. There was just something about her that made Callen open up to her. He had never thought he would open up to her, let alone fall in love with her. But now he had someone who he could open up to and he could rely on. At first he was afraid she would leave him too since a lot of his foster parents did too, but she never did. She made sure to Callen that she was here to stay, that no matter what he said or did to her would change that. She really was the one for him. He was really glad that they were now living together and who knows what the future would hold in store for them.
After they movie they were watching on TV had ended they went to bed. Sure they had spent a lot of nights together, but this was their first night officially living together. Callen saw how his bathroom was now full of Zoë's stuff, but he didn't mind at all. They got ready for bed and crawled in together.
"Our first night living together," Zoë admitted.
"Yes it is," Callen replied with a smile and move closer to Zoë so he could give her a kiss. "And I couldn't be happier."
"Me neither. There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now."
"Me neither."
"Goodnight G," Zoë said and gave Callen another kiss.
"Goodnight Zoë."
Zoë lay down on her side with her back facing Callen and Callen came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her. Callen had never slept much in a bed but since he was with Zoë he actually loved it. He loved lying in bed with Zoë and cuddling up to her. And he had to admit, it slept nicer than his bedroll. Whenever Zoë slept next to him he slept better. Zoë was fast asleep but Callen was awake a little while longer, he just looked at Zoë sleeping. She looked so peaceful and beautiful right now. Callen was really glad that they had taken this step. Callen snuggled against her and he fell asleep too.
The next morning when Callen woke up Zoë was still asleep. Quietly he got out of bed and put his running clothes on. As he walked into the living room he saw all this furniture standing there. He had to admit, the house looked nicer with all the stuff in it. He never felt like he needed all of this, but the house did look nicer with everything in it. Callen put his shoes on and went for his morning run. About thirty minutes later he walked back into the house and he heard the shower running, letting him know that Zoë was awake as well. Suddenly he got an idea and he needed to have a shower anyway. Quietly he walked through the house and took his clothes and shoes off. Very quietly he sneaked into the bathroom. He saw Zoë standing underneath the shower and her back was towards him. He snuck up to her and sneakily got into the shower with her. Zoë screamed as Callen put his arms around her, she hadn't heard him come in, but she relaxed as soon as she realized it was just Callen.
"Jesus G, you scared me."
"Sorry, I wanted to surprise you, not scare you."
Zoë turned around and saw that Callen was standing there naked, together with her in the shower.
"What are you doing here?"
"Isn't that obvious," Callen replied seductively as he pulled Zoë closer to him. "I'm getting a shower after my run. You just happened to be in the shower too."
Just the look on his face right now made Zoë week in the knees. Callen pushed Zoë against the wall and kissed her. His hand wandered over her body, right to the spot where Zoë wanted him the most. After he had pleasured Zoë she proceeded in washing and teasing him. After a while Callen couldn't take it anymore and he pulled Zoë up and pushed her against the wall again. He picked her up and Zoë automatically wrapped her legs around him. The bathroom was quickly heating up and not just by the warm shower running. After finishing they finished their shower and got dressed. Zoë walked into the kitchen to get some coffee and breakfast started. They sat down at the kitchen table to have some breakfast.
"How did you get this house actually? I mean I heard that Hetty had arranged it, but how did she find it?" Zoë asked Callen.
"Well, Alina, my little foster sister, she owned this house after her parents had died. We caught a case where she had been murdered. I didn't know it at first that it was her, but it turned out to be Alina. She also was there to warn me just before I got shot. But I didn't remember her anymore so I waved her off, worried she might be after me. She actually was working on a case to avenge my death, she thought I had died that day. She had figured out who was behind it and that led to her being killed. We caught the case because they found pictures of me on her hard drive and that's how I found out it was Alina. A little less than a year later the house was still vacant and Hetty had arranged that I could buy it. She insisted I needed a house. So that's when I moved in here, that's a little over three years ago now. I've been here ever since and now it's our house," Callen spoke that last part with a smile.
"Yes it is and I'm happy to be here," Zoë replied with a smile.
"I've never really had much furniture but I have to admit it does look nice. It kinda reminds me a bit of the time I was here with the Rostoff's."
"That's good. I told you it would be nice to have some furniture."
"Yeah, yeah. But all this furniture wouldn't feel the same without you here."
"Ditto."
Zoë got up from the table and gave Callen a soft kiss before cleaning up. Callen went into the living room as Zoë went to collect some laundry. Just as Callen had walked into the living room there was a knock on the door. Callen went to open the front door.
"Hey Sam," Callen replied surprised.
"Hey G, you ready?"
"Ready?" Callen questioned.
"To go to the basketball game. Remember I was gonna come pick you up."
"Oh yeah right."
Sam looked inside the house from the doorway and saw the furniture standing there.
"You finally got some furniture G?" Sam said surprised as he walked into the house.
"Yeah, I figured it was about time."
"Not just furniture but decorations as well. Where did you get all this?"
At that moment Zoë came walking into the living room with the laundry basket in hand. She looked as Sam stood there in the living room.
"Zoë?" Sam spoke surprised.
"Hey Sam," Zoë replied just as surprised.
Callen looked a bit awkward between his partner and his girlfriend, who was standing there with a laundry basket.