Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. Glad to see that some of you stuck with me and were patient. I really do appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS: Los Angeles

CHAPTER 14

Kensi took Deeks up to his apartment and was appalled by what she saw inside. Typically her partner was neat and mostly organized, but his place was far from it. The coffee table and other surfaces were covered in old take out containers, some still with food in them. There were some old news papers piled on the floor along with some random magazines. There were some clothes, probably dirty, piled on a chair in the corner. She figured she would deal with the mess in the morning.

She got him about halfway across the living room and stopped when she felt Deeks protest again. "We need to get you to bed Deeks. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning." She said to him. The look in his merky eyes worried her and before she could say anything else, he heaved and threw up all over the floor in front of him. Better on the floor then on her, but she knew that it wasn't good. He was going to have a terrible hangover in the morning. "Ugh, let's get you to bed and I'll clean this up later." The thought of cleaning up his puke grossed her out, but she couldn't leave all night.

Finally getting Deeks into the bedroom, Kensi focused on getting him out of his clothes and into something to sleep in. She grabbed an old LAPD t-shirt from his dresser and helped him get his other shirt off. He winced as she pulled the shirt over and off of him. She glanced at his back and her eyes froze in shock. The dressings over his back were dirty and looked as if they hadn't been changed all week. "Deeks, have you changed these at all?" She asked.

Deeks looked at her, took in a deep breath, and replied. "I can't exactly change them myself, now can I?" He reached the other t-shirt, trying to get it on.

Kensi stopped him, taking the shirt forcefully from his hands. "No, we have to change these dressings." She pulled the dressings off as slowly and gently as she could, but it still caused him pain. She was nearly in shock again when she saw the wounds on his back. They looked like they had actually gotten worse over the week. "This looks terrible, Deeks. Let's get some ointment on these and get some new dressings on your back." She rubbed on some ointment and he winced again. She could tell he wasn't handling the pain well. "Where are your pain meds?"

"At Walgreens." He answered back. It was probably a good thing that he didn't have any pain meds, considering how much Deeks had had to drink that evening.

"Let's finish here and get you into bed." Kensi said. She finished taking care of his back and got a shirt on him. She got him into a pair of soft jogging shorts to sleep in. Slowly, she eased him back onto the bed and pulled the covers over him. "See you in the morning, Deeks."

Kensi flipped off the light and walked out of the room and into the kitchen. She stopped there and grabbed some cleaning supplies to use in the living room. After cleaning Deeks' puke, she decided to tidy up the rest of the room. She started by tossing out all of the old take out containers. Then she organized all the magazines on the coffee table. She went back to the kitchen and focused on the dishes in the sink. It was no secret that she wasn't a clean freak and she certainly wasn't the domestic type, but Deeks' place was messy even for her.

She was nearly done with the dishes when she heard some moaning coming from the bedroom. She looked curiously towards the bedroom, trying to be sure she had heard correctly. She heard it again and that time, thought she also heard words. She approached the door slowly and peaked into the room. Deeks was twisted up in the covers. His breathing was heavy and he was mumbling "no, please no." From his tone, she assumed he was having a nightmare. He had had them before and it wasn't surprising that he was still having them.

Slowly, Kensi made her way to Deeks' bedside. She shook him gently and called to him softly. "Deeks, wake up. Deeks." Nothing happened, so she shook him a bit harder.

Deeks snapped his eyes open quickly and grabbed onto her wrist tightly. "Don't touch me." He screamed out. He tried to slow his breathing and focus. Kensi flipped on the bedside lamp with her free arm and when Deeks saw her, he immediately let go. "I'm, I'm so sorry Kens." He ran his hands nervously through his hair. "It's just, I just keep having these nightmares and I can barely sleep. I can't do it anymore Kensi. The pain, the memories, it's just too much."

"Listen to me Deeks, you just need help. You need to let someone in." Kensi replied. Her heart was breaking for him and she wasn't quite sure what to do in the moment, but knew she could easily call Hetty or anyone else on the team and they would come up with some way to help in an instant. "You just try and get some rest and we'll get you some help in the morning."

She started to walk out when Deeks stopped her. "Kens? Can you stay please?"

"What?" She thought to herself. She turned back to Deeks and he had just the saddest face. She knew she couldn't say no, but she also knew that if she laid in bed with him, it would probably one of the most awkward moments they would ever share. Sure, they had been in bed together before, but that was work related and they had been undercover. They had set ground rules and they knew what boundaries not to cross. This was completely different. "I guess, if you really want me to." She walked over and sat on the side of the bed opposite of him. She slipped her boots off and laid on top of the covers next to him, folding her arms across her chest as she tried to get as comfortable as possible. She figured she would wait until Deeks had fallen asleep and then move out to the couch and sleep there. She never made it to the couch though.

Morning came, though there were no signs of it in Deeks' dark bedroom. His blinds had all been closed, keeping any light out. Kensi awoke and felt something on top of her. She tried to focus, despite the darkness, and realized it was Deeks' arm. It laid across her and clung tightly to her, as if protecting her.

An awkwardness came over her after realizing how protective Deeks' hold was on her. She had to pee though and needed to get up. She tried to move his arm carefully, so as not to rouse him, but she wasn't successful.

"Mmmhm." He moaned, as he slowly opened his eyes. They met with Kensi's and he let out a faint smile that quickly transitioned into a look of confusion. "What are you doing here?" He couldn't remember the night before and didn't understand why she was there with him. He felt a little light headed and nauseous, but over all, he also felt rested and he hadn't felt that rested since before the kidnapping and torture. "Why are you in bed with me?" He'd always dreamed of waking up next bad ass Kensi Blye, but in his dreams, she was usually in a t-shirt of his and had the sun radiating through her hair as it filtered in from the windows.

"You got a little drunk last night and I had to come and get you." She quickly explained.

"What?" He shot up quickly and immediately regretted it, wincing in pain instantly. His ribs were still giving him a bit of trouble. His head started to spin.

"When I got you into bed, you had a nightmare and asked me to stay with you." Kensi added in.

"Wait, I didn't do or say anything embarrassing last night, did I?" Deeks wondered. He wasn't the best drunk, especially when it came to hard liquor, which was part of the reason he stuck to beer and part of the reason why he tried not to drink more than he knew he could handle.

"Well..." Kensi thought about it for a minute before answering.

"Well, what?" Deeks demanded.

"Um, well you said that you didn't want me there, that you didn't want the ones you love to see you like that." Kensi admitted. "Am I...do you...you don't love me right?"

Deeks lip quivered for a moment and he turned away from her, unable to look her in the eyes. "Would it be such a bad thing if I did?" He asked. He turned back to her, giving her a longing look.

"Do you love me?" She asked back. Deep down she wanted him to say yes, but she was also scared that he would say yes. Besides Jack, she had never let anyone get into her heart. Deeks somehow wormed his way in though and broke through the walls she had put up when Jack left her and broke her heart. She wasn't sure if she could feel this kind of love again and she was really beginning to feel that way towards Deeks. She didn't know when her feelings for him had turned to love, but somewhere along the way, it had happened and now she had to decide what she wanted to do if he admitted he loved her. Would she admit it back, would she give over her whole heart and soul to him?

Deeks reached for her hands and pulled her down to the bed. She sat and waited for his answer. "More than anything in the world."

"What?" She was a little shocked at his answer and wasn't sure she heard correctly. To add to her shock, Deeks leaned towards her and met her lips, giving her the most passionate kiss of her life. She could feel the sparks flying as her heart skipped a beat. She gave in to him and kissed back before he pulled himself free.

"I'm sorry Kens." He said, turning away from her.

"What are you sorry for?" She asked.

"This, now." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "This isn't how I wanted to tell you. I don't even know if you feel the same way and..."

Kensi cut him off by placing a single finger over his lips to silence him. She surprised herself when she spoke because of how easily and quickly the words came out. It was no secret that she had a hard time communicating, and so did her partner. "I feel the same way. I've felt something from the beginning, I just didn't realize what it was until now."

Deeks nodded his head slowly and smiled. "Kensi, you don't know how happy those words make me." He replied.

She smiled back and reached in for another kiss. Their lips met with an explosion of passion and emotion. They both became swept up in each other as the kiss slowly led to more. Deeks fell back against the bed and she straddled over him, slowly moving her lips to his neck. His hands gently caressed her hips as her hair fell softly against him, tickling him a little.

Kensi reached for his shirt, but Deeks stopped her. "Wait." He said.

She leaned back so she could get a good look at his face. "Isn't this what you want?" She asked, feeling confused.

Deeks repositioned Kensi so he could sit up. "More than anything, but I don't want it like this Kensi." She wasn't sure what he meant, but he continued. "I'm so messed up right now. I can't sleep, I can barely eat. There's so much pain and I just can't do it, I can't fight."

"You have to fight, let me help you Deeks." Kensi argued.

"I just want the pain to go away, I want the memories to stop tormenting me." He said.

"I can help you Deeks. Me and the team, we can all help you if you'll just let us." Kensi pleaded with him. "I'm going to use the bathroom and then we need to get some food in you. We can talk over breakfast ok."

Deeks nodded. "Ok."

Kensi walked off to the bathroom. When she finished and returned to the bedroom, Deeks was gone. "Maybe he went to start on breakfast." She thought, walking to the kitchen. He wasn't their either. "Deeks?" He wasn't in the living room. She glanced out the window behind the couch and noticed that his car was gone from the parking lot. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and called his, only to discover he had left it behind. She could hear it ringing in the other room. Worry instantly consumed her.

Kensi had no idea where Deeks could have gone, so she did the only thing she could think of. She called backup.

Callen answered his phone on the first ring. He and Sam were already at ops getting started for the day. "Hey, I need your help." She said. "Deeks is gone. He took off and I don't know where he went. I'm really worried about him."

"Ok, we'll fill Eric in and be right over." Callen replied.

So Deeks and Kensi have some interesting interactions. Had to get a little Densi in this chapter. I'm thinking there will probably only be a few more chapters after this. Please review. Thanks!