Authors Note;Hey guys! So I've gotten a couple of reviews on the first chapter, and quite a few people have read it so I'm happy :) Lets see if more of you can review this time? Pretty please with an Oreo on top? :)
A couple of notes on this chapter:
1) I always imagined that Deeks and Nell were quite good friends because they joined NCIS around the same time, giving them something to bond over, hence their friendship in my some of my stories.
2) General Tsao's Chicken is bits of chicken in cornstarch, deep-fried and then cooked in a dark sauce including hoisin, dark soy and chilli. For some reason I thought Kensi would probably eat this the first time i had it.. Yes I am creepy obsessed enough to think that a character will probably like a food if I eat something that strangely reminds me of them… Oh goodness I think I need therapy!
And I think that's it for now.. So read, enjoy, review, favourite, follow, whatever you want to do :)
Big, big thank you for reading! x
"Thank you." Nell heard Eric mumble, just before his head drooped, finally giving in to sleep. She watched him for a while, ignoring the movie playing on the TV. He looked so young in his sleep. His blond hair was fully dried now and in its usual disarray and his cheeks flushed with fever. His lips were parted slightly and little huffs of air passed between them. She gently checked his temperature with her hand again as she had been sporadically throughout the day when he had been sleeping on the couch. I wonder why he never told anyone he was sick, she thought, smiling down at her partner. He had never looked more peaceful. As she brushed his hair back away from his face he shifted gently and mumbled a little in his sleep, "Nelly." This caused her to smile softly. She switched off the movie and carefully crawled off the bed. As he felt the bed move though he gravitated towards the movement, latching an arm around her waist. While it was all very cute she pried his arm away and got off the bed, watching as he pouted in his sleep and rolled into her previously occupied warm spot. She couldn't resist bending over and kissing his forehead lightly. He must have felt it because he stopped frowning and instead smiled slightly, before giving a violent shiver. Taking pity on him she pulled the comforter up over him and tucked it around his shoulders. After watching him for another minute, satisfied that he wasn't about to wake up Nell left the room, leaving the door pulled too. As she got into the kitchen she pulled out her phone and dialled a familiar number.
"What's up, Jones?"
"Deeks," she said, her tone making it clear that she wasn't playing around, "Are you able to bring my go-bag to Eric's? He's pretty sick at the moment."
"So you're playing Naughty Nurse Nell?" His cheekiness, while endearing at times, really did drive her up the wall at others.
"Shut up, Detective Dickhead Deeks," she snapped and ignored his sniggering, "Can you bring my go-bag or do I need to call Kensi?"
"Alright grumpy! I'll bring it by after work. Hold on," he said. She stayed on the line while he was having a little conversation with someone, "With a stack of paperwork that Hetty wants you to upload to the system with your tablet while you're playing nurse." Nell groaned, but didn't argue, knowing how generous their boss was being to let her have the day off.
"Thank you."
"All good, Nellikins."
"Cya later."
"Toodles." Nell shook her head at her friends antics, but hung up without retorting. What to do, what to do? she thought to herself, looking round her partners house. She had never actually been here for an extended period of time, only to come and pick him up, or drop him off from work. The bungalow was surprisingly spacious for a bachelor. He had a large open plan kitchen, dining and living area. A bathroom went off the hall with an entrance into the guest room, from both the corridor and the bathroom. Next to the bathroom was a little alcove with a workstation and next to that there was a laundry with a washer and dryer. Photographs adorned the white walls. Most were black and white. All very artistic. She admired each of them. Her favourite was of a surfer. One in a huge crowd of them riding a huge wave while the rest just bobbed in the water. There was a grace to the surfer. The way his body angled to counteract the velocity of the waves, the way one arm was thrust out for balance while the other was pointed down towards his feet. His board was cresting over the top of a wave and the wake was still defined in the wave.
Turning away from the pictures she cast her eye around. In his 3 day hiatus from the world Eric's house had become dusty and a bit stale smelling. In the laundry she found some cleaning products and set about freshening up the place. Hopefully cleaning the place down with a citrus smelling antibacterial would help her sick partner feel better, and help stop him from living in festering bacteria. After cleaning all the surfaces and dusting the place down she set about doing the few dishes that had been left out, watching the clock. Just as she finished drying the last cup a knock sounded loudly on the French doors. She raced through the lounge and opened the door before he could knock again.
"Shut up!" She hissed, swinging the door open for the Detective and his partner, "Eric's asleep!"
"Ooooh, you have fun tiring him out and tucking him in- OW!" He cried as Kensi punched his arm. Hard.
"Shh!" The two females hissed at him together.
"Sorry," Kensi said quietly to Nell, "How's he doing?" Nell sighed and took her go-bag that Deeks held out to her.
"When I got here he was in bed with a high fever and had been for a couple of days. I got him to take a shower and cooled his temperature down a bit."
"Has he eaten?" Deeks asked, showing a sign of maturity for his friend.
"No, I didn't think he was going to keep anything down earlier, but I was planning on making some broth or something for dinner."
"Okay, well we were going to get some takeout. Do you want us to pick something up for you? I can't imagine his cupboards would have the makings of a reasonable meal." Kensi asked. Nell smiled at her friends thoughtfulness and nodded.
"Yeah, that'd be great, thank you."
"'Kay, we'll be back soon then," Deeks said, ushering Kensi back out the door. She started walking back to her car and Deeks was about to follow her when he turned, looking back at Nell, "You're taking good care of him, Nell. I'm sorry if I was a dick to you earlier."
"It's okay, Deeks," she smiled and gave him a quick hug, "It's you, I get it." He smiled back and dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head.
"We'll be back." He said ominously before turning and chasing after his partner. Nell sighed, closing the door. Going back to the kitchen she put away the dishes she had dried before the partners turned up and then checked the clock. 5:30pm. Eric had been asleep for about 3 hours now, so she decided that it would be safe to wake him up. That and she was getting bored. She poured him another glass of apple water and quietly opened the door to the bedroom. Her partner hadn't moved from where she had left him earlier. He was lying on his back with his body angled slightly towards the vacant left side of the bed; his left arm was thrust out where he had flung it when he was searching for her warmth, with his right lying over his chest. She put the glass on the bedside table and slowly sat on the left side of the bed, trying not to jostle him. He must have sensed the movement however as he rolled over, taking his arm that had been resting on his chest and wrapped it around her waist. She smiled at his subconscious movement and brushed her fingers gently over his forehead, once more checking his fever. It had dropped significantly, she was pleased to find, but he was still incredibly warm. After she was satisfied he wasn't in danger of burning up once more she ran her fingers through his short hair, massaging his scalp slightly like she had done when she was washing his hair.
"Hey sleepyhead," she whispered as he started moving more, slowly coming to, "You fell asleep in the movie." He made some noise that sounded like 'mmhdry', making her giggle once more. He groaned and pulled closer to him, snuggling his head into her neck. She wasn't sure if he was awake enough to be aware of his actions but she allowed him to anyway, "Come on, buddy, you need to wake up. I brought you some more apple water," she coaxed. He eventually gave a heavy sigh but dragged himself away from her body, rolling back onto his back and pulling himself up, propping himself against the pillows she stacked behind him.
"Thanks." He rasped, taking the proffered glass.
"How are you feeling, Wolfram?" He smiled at her use of the nickname but put the glass on his side table.
"Been better," he said, snuggling down into the warmth of his bed, "Could do with some more sleep though." She saw him close his eyes just before he rolled over onto his side so he was facing away from her.
"Na-uh-uh." She said, pulling to duvet off of him, ignoring his growl once more and throwing it to the ground again, "Up! Kensi and Deeks are going to be back soon and they both want to make sure you're okay."
"Kensi and Deeks were here?" He asked, rolling back over to face her.
"Yes, they dropped my go-bag here and offered to bring me back some food. Your cupboards are practically bare."
"Your go-bag? You're staying here?" She blushed, realising how presumptuous she had been, "If that's okay with you…" She trailed off.
"Um, yeah, of course you can!" He said quickly, coughing slightly as he breathed in too quickly and irritated his dry throat, "So when did the dynamic duo say they were going to be back?" Nell checked the time on her phone just as there was a knocking on the door.
"I'd say right about now," she said, jumping up off the bed and crossing to his door. When she reached the threshold she turned back and glared at him, "Up! I expect you out there in 15 minutes. Max!" He grumbled loudly, squishing a pillow over his face, but waving her off. She entered the lounge as Deeks knocked again, "Come in!" She called, going through to the kitchen and getting three plates down as well as a large mug for Eric's broth.
"How's Sleeping Beauty doing?"
"He's a bit better. I just woke him up so he should be out here soon. At least he will be if he doesn't want me to go back in there and drag him out here in his boxers!" She finished, yelling the last sentence loud enough so Eric would be able to hear her from the other room.
"Well, we brought sustenance for the nurse." Kensi said, dumping the bags on the breakfast bar. Nell caught a whiff of what she thought was ginger and felt her mouth water. In her business of taking care of Eric and cleaning up his house she had forgotten to eat lunch.
"Lifesavers! What have you brought me?" They both began taking out cartons and boxes, Kensi opening them and Nell eagerly peeked into each one.
"You have soy, honey and ginger pork," Kensi handed Nell the carton and laughed as she sneakily popped a bit of pork in her mouth and moaned as the flavour exploded on her tongue, "I have General Tsao's Chicken, and Deeks has stir fry tofu." Both the women wrinkled their noses in disgust at Deeks' choice of dinner, but he merely grabbed the carton and opened it, shaking a lump of tofu out into his mouth. The three friends emptied containers of fried noodles onto their plates and grabbed some chopsticks from the bags, just as Eric's bedroom door opened.
"Geez, did you party all night or something?" Deeks joked as Eric stumbled into the living area and collapsed straight onto the couch.
"Shuddup." Came the muffled response from the pillows. Nell turned to the stove and heated up the broth she had made earlier in the day. When it was bubbling she turned the heat off from under it and poured a little into the mug, grabbing it and her plate before she went over to the couch. Kensi and Deeks had dropped themselves onto one sofa, their body language mirroring one another. Where Kensi was sitting on the left, she had her left leg bent up underneath her and her right foot up on the coffee table. Deeks was on the right and had his right leg bent under him and his left foot up on the table. Eric was awkwardly folded over one arm of the sofa, face down, butt up. Nell carefully put their respective meals down on the table and nudged him in the ribs.
"Hey you, sit properly." She passed by him and plopped herself down on the only vacant seat. Eric reluctantly crawled over the arm of the sofa and twisted so his butt was in the right place and he was leaning back against the cushions. The effort seemed to tire him out a bit as he closed his eyes and took a second to get his breath back. Wisely Deeks decided not to comment, "I've made you some broth, which you need to drink, okay?" She said, handing him his mug. He took it and gave her a grateful smile, taking a small sip. She grabbed her own plate and chowed down on the delicious Chinese food.
They all ate in silence. Unsurprisingly Eric finished first and put his mug back on the table before twisting and laying back on the couch, putting his head in Nell's lap. She finished a moment later and moved him a little so she could reach the coffee table before moving back and allowing him to settle back down. She smiled down at him as he closed his and she began to softly run her fingers through his hair again. Each time she did it she noticed that he started to smile a little, and this time wasn't any different. She didn't notice the other set of partners on the adjacent sofa had both stopped their chopsticks halfway to their mouths, and were staring at them in shock. Deeks apparently recovered first and dropped his would-be mouthful back on his plate.
"Well, you two are looking, um… cosy… over there?" The two geeks looked over, well, Nell looked, Eric just frowned without even opening his eyes. Her hand stilled on his head and he nudged it, reminding her to keep going, "You know, Monty does that when I stop scratching his head."
"Shut up." They said together and Eric started smiling again.
"So other than acting like Monty, how are you feeling Eric?" Kensi asked, nudging her partners knee with hers and making him drop his plate. Nell giggled and watched him collect the remaining food off his lap before throwing it onto his plate that he dropped onto the coffee table, before slumping back dramatically against the fluffed pillows.
"I've been better," Eric confessed, shuffling his head around on her lap to get more comfortable, "But I'm starting to feel relatively normal again, so you know." Kensi finished up her plate and slid it onto the coffee table a lot more delicately than Deeks had done but slumped back as equally ungracefully as him. The four sat in a companionable silence and let their meals digest. It was dark outside now, and the lights from the kitchen were the only ones on in the living area, combined with the faint light from the streetlights outside created a soft glow. Nell heard a soft snore coming from Kensi and Deeks' sofa and glanced over, seeing the two slumped back, Kensi's head leant on his shoulder and his head on top of hers. The two were fast asleep, "Are they snoring on my couch?" Eric's weak voice came from her lap and her eyes met his tired green ones.
"Yes, they are. Want me to wake them up?" He glanced over at them and closed his eyes before getting comfortable once more, "May as well, then they can snore in their own space." She laughed softly and stroked his hair once more before tapping his nose gently. He wrinkled it slightly at the contact. God, he's adorable, she thought and blushed before she spoke.
"'Kay, well, you're going to have to move Mr Beale." He grumbled but let her help push him up before propping him on the back cushions, "Alrighty you two, up and out of here." She said, clapping her hands to rouse the two sleeping agents. They both started and banged heads together causing Eric to give a rough chuckle which sent tingles through Nell. The two stretched and groaned, standing up and shuffling around. Deeks collected their dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen, putting them in the sink and running water over them. Kensi threw the cartons away and grabbed her keys which she had thrown on the counter at their arrival. As Deeks dried his hands Kens came over to Eric's couch and bent, planting a kiss on his forehead.
"You get better, Geek Boy." She said affectionately, giving him a very small tap on the shoulder.
"Thanks Kens." Eric smiled up at her and Nell felt a strange twinge in her gut. God, you cannot be jealous! she thought angrily, but hugged Kensi all the same, pushing away the unwanted feelings.
"Hang loose, dude." Deeks called as he exited, making Kensi look back at the remaining duo and roll her eyes before following her partner out, closing the door behind her. Nell turned back to Eric, but saw that he had closed his eyes again.
"Come on, Eric," she said, tugging his hand, waking him up and pulling him to his feet, "Let's get you back to bed." He managed to walk to his room and plop face down onto the bed again, "Eric, do you want to get changed? You might be a bit more comfortable?" She asked, gently squeezing his ankle that was dangling off the side. He grumbled but pulled himself up into a sitting position. She ducked into his closet (which was a lot bigger than she was expecting when she had first entered it this morning) and went to his drawers. She pulled out a pair of boxers with surfboards all over them and a white singlet, taking them back to Eric in bed, "Want me to leave?" She asked. He shrugged and just pulled off his t-shirt followed by his shorts. She flushed and turned, heading over to the corner of the room where she had dumped her go-bag earlier. Retrieving her own pyjamas she went into his en suite and quickly changed. As she looked in the mirror while she brushed her teeth and ran her fingers through her hair she cursed the fact that she hadn't packed anything more conservative than a pair of shorts and a very loose tank top. However since she was planning on sleeping on the couch it wasn't the end of the world. When she got back to his room with her dirty clothes folded in her hands she stopped dead in her tracks. Eric, who had apparently been a lot more exhausted than she had thought, had fallen asleep part way through getting changed, leaving him without a shirt but with his colourful boxers on (Thank God, she thought) and was currently slumped back on the bed with his legs off the side. She smiled at seeing him so innocent and quietly went about dropping her clothes in her bag and collecting his recently discarded items up, throwing them into the laundry bin by the door to the bathroom. When she got back to him she gently roused him for what felt like the 10th time that day, "Eric, come on, you'll be a lot more comfortable if you actually get into the bed." He mumbled, not fully waking up but still managing to crawl up the bed to rest his head on the pillows. She managed to tug the sheet out from under him and carefully tucked it over him and gathered the duvet off of the floor where she had dumped it earlier, laying that on top of her slumbering partner too. He shuffled slightly, getting more comfortable and sighed. She bent over and kissed his hair gently where it peaked out from under the covers, "Night, Wolfram." As she turned to go his hot hand shot out from under the duvet and sheets and grabbed her fingers.
"Stay." Looking down at him she stroked his hand gently with the fingers he wasn't grasping.
"Eric, I really shouldn't." She whispered. He opened his eyes and looked up at her pleadingly.
"Please, I want you to." He looked like a lost little boy, lying there staring up at her with wide, innocent green eyes, his skin slightly flushed with his fever. And just with that one look she was snared, unable to resist him. She tried to ignore his delighted smile as she went round the other side of the bed, lifting the covers and sliding in next to him. She noticed that his temperature had dropped significantly, she noticed, as the heat he was kicking out wasn't too much in excess than normal.
"Night." She whispered, and rolled onto her side, facing away from Eric, tucking one arm under her pillow. Eric sighed but rolled over and came up behind her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her slowly to him, "What are you doing?" She asked, stealing his favourite line from the day.
"I'm still cold. And since you won't let me have another blanket…" He said trailing off as his voice became heavier with sleep. She gave a small laugh but couldn't resist snuggling back against him. She lay there for a while, listening to him breathing and took the hand of his arm that was wrapped around her in hers, tugging it tighter around her before allowing sleep to claim her.