Chapter 17

Special Agent G. Callen was still sitting at his desk working on paperwork. Everyone had gone home already, or so he thought, but for the second time in less than a month, he was wrong. Kensi was sitting on the bottom step of the stairs, waiting for Hetty to leave so she could talk to Callen alone. The older woman knew that and before she left, she gave Kensi a small smile and gave Callen a thumbs up. Callen couldn't help but wonder if she had been drinking tequila again, but he decided not to say anything about it. He just nodded and went back to his papers.

As soon as Hetty closed the door, Kensi got up and cleared her throat to let Callen know that he wasn't alone. G turned around so fast that he almost pulled a muscle in his neck but he relaxed when he saw her there and motioned for her to come over.

She got closer to him and started talking, without giving him time to answer in between sentences. In fact, Callen wasn't even sure if she was breathing in between sentences.

"Here's the deal: I meant what I said but I have no idea why I said it. It was stupid of me to just drop those words like that and I shouldn't have. I don't even know why I felt this need to share them with you…it just felt right, I guess. So I'm going to be completely honest with you right now. It hurt me the way you left, it hurt me that you didn't even bother to say that you didn't felt the same way or that you needed time to think, it hurt me that you felt that you had to ignore me for the next few days, it all hurt like hell. I want our friendship back and for that to happen I felt like I needed to tell you this. Am I rambling? I think that I'm rambling. My point is that we need to come clean about everything so things can go back to normal between us."

Callen got up with a smile on his face and faced her.

"Can I talk now or do you want to continue with your rambling? I won't lie to you…it was pretty amusing."

"I didn't mean to ramble. I was just trying to make a point. And I need to hear the word coming from your mouth so I can face the truth and just stop hoping. Please, just say it."

Callen frowned. "What do you want to hear from me?"

"I need to hear you say that you don't love me."

As soon as those words left her mouth, Kensi closed her eyes. She needed to hear those words but she didn't need him to see just how much they would hurt her, and she knew that if she kept her eyes open, he would read her like a book as always.

Callen, on the other hand, couldn't believe what he was hearing. He honestly thought that she was smarter than that…He could tell that she had closed her eyes so he wouldn't see how she was feeling.

"Is that really what you want to hear?" he asked.

Kensi opened her eyes and was met by a pair of very brilliant blue ones looking right back at her. His stare was so intense that it made her feel like a little kid who was receiving a lecture.

"Just say it Callen."

He gave one step forward and she gave one step back. He realized that she was trying to keep her distance from him but he wasn't having any of that. He wanted to be as close to her as humanly possible and her stubbornness wouldn't get in his way. He gave another step forward and she gave another step back. This went one for a few seconds and when she realizes that she was backed up against a wall, it was already too late because his arms were on either side of her to keep her there and his face was so close that their foreheads were touching.

"I won't say it, Kenz."

She closed her eyes once again but this time to keep her tears at bay. Didn't he realize that this was the only way to make her move on?

"Please, Callen…"

"You can beg all you want but you'll never hear those words coming out off my mouth Kenz."

Their words were just whispers now. They didn't need to talk any louder than that.

"Why are you doing this to me? Are you enjoying yourself? Don't you see that if you don't tell me that you don't love me, I'll just keep holding all that hope inside until it breaks me? I need you to say it…Please, Callen!" she begged.

"Stop it Kensi! You're rambling again…"

"I don't care if I'm rambling or not. I'll keep rambling until you tell me what I want to hear. I'll keep rambling until you just say the words. I'll keep rambling until…"

Callen cut her off with a kiss. As soon as his lips touched hers he wondered how he could have been so stupid, how he could have hurt her this much. She kissed him back with as much passion as he did. They both needed this. Callen pushed back when he felt a tear on her face. He looked at her and saw that her eyes were still closed.

She didn't say anything…she didn't even move.

"Kenz, look at me."

She shook her head and he just sighed.

"Please, Kensi, look at me. I promise that it won't hurt you…" he begged her.

She opened her eyes slowly and he smiled at her.

"I love you, Kensi. I do. I love you so much that I can't even put it into words. I'm so sorry for all I've done but I was scared. I was scared because I had never felt this way about anyone else before. I was scared because I didn't know if I could be what you deserve or not. I want you to know that I love you, Kensi."

She was the one who cut him off with a kiss this time. When air became an issue, they pulled back with huge smiles on their faces and Kensi laughed.

"I'm sorry, but you were rambling!"

Both agents laughed and fell into each other's arms. They knew that things would be just fine as long as they had each other.

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So? What do you think? This is not the last chapter but I know how much you wanted them to talk so here it is…

Xoxo Sarah