Thank you for multitude of the support and love I've been receiving, you guys are amazing! I hope you all enjoy this chapter:)

- Hazel

As the bedroom flings open- her mother running inside and flicking on the light, Kensi's having a hard time deciding whether or not this is a dream.

"Mom?" She asks, her voice croaky in the wee hours of the morning. Kens wipes her eyes, propping herself up on one elbow as she squints at the clock beside her bed.

2:23 AM.

"Get up," Julia instructs. Her tone is gruff but it's clear that she's been crying.

"What are you talking about?"

"We're leaving."

She pulls open the closet doors, rummaging around and whipping out an empty suitcase.

Kensi's heart begins to race, her eyes frantically searching her mother's face for some sort of an explanation.

"What are you talking about? Dad just got here-"

"He's not coming with us, Kensi." She stares down her daughter, allowing Kensi a moment to fully take in what she's telling her. "I'm sorry, but we're going."

"Mom!" She screeches, tears welling up in her eyes. Confusion mixed with anger and a lack of sleep is making her tone sound almost hysterical. "How can you-"

"Kensi, please," Julia pleads, hovering in the doorway before making her exit. "Your father isn't here right now, so we need to hurry. Pack a bag."

In a baffled and teary eyed stupor, the truth suddenly becomes clear to her. This is all real- she definitely isn't dreaming.

Kensi knows that her subconscious would never be this cruel.

Twenty minutes later, their bags have been packed and loaded into the back of the car.

Kensi's been asking why they're leaving, where her dad is, what the 'hell is going on' ever since her mother first woke her up, but she can't manage to get a direct answer. Instead, everything's vague and carries little or no weight whatsoever.

Kensi's heart has been stuck in her throat this entire time, normal breathing becoming an increasingly difficult task. She wants her father to appear, pulling her away from this person who she's having a hard time recognizing at the moment. She wants to go back inside, to go back to sleep, to curl up in bed and pretend like nothing even happened in the first place.

Basically, Kensi wants everything to be normal again. But she knows that life isn't always fair.

So she gets inside the car, slamming the door shut as tears continue stinging at her eyes. She stares outside at the starless night sky, her jaw clenched, but the moment her mother starts the car something clicks, and Kensi practically yells it into the silence.

"But... Deeks!"

Julia almost rolls her eyes, and it's infuriating. She wants to scream.

"He's just a boy, Kensi. There's plenty of other people out there-"

"You don't know anything about him, or me, or us! You have no idea who he is, yet you act like you do!"

Kensi shakes her head, more tears rolling down her cheeks as the anger turns to sadness. She has a strong feeling that this is going to become a regular occurrence.

"Just let me say goodbye to him."

The simple sound of those words leaving her own mouth is practically debilitating.

Julia remains silent, but Kensi can tell that she's thinking.

"Please, mom. You owe it to me."

She sighs, slowing down the car to a mere ten mph.

"Tell me where he lives."

Julia stops the car about half a block away, parking on a street corner. Maybe she doesn't want to watch her daughter say a tearful goodbye? Maybe she just wants a moment to herself? Kensi really can't be sure.

"Make it quick, okay?"

She doesn't even bother responding and instead just throws her seatbelt off, allowing the snapping sound to fill the silence.

The stars in the sky are nonexistent. Between herself and Deeks' house arise puffs of gray, ones that are thick and lingering in the darkness. The moon is fighting to shine it's light down upon her; she knows that's trying to peek out from behind the clouds.

But the masses of deep gray are unrelenting in their persistence, casting an ominous haze over the dimly lit street.

Kensi pounds against the door, wanting to use every free moment she has wisely. So although it could be considered rude of her to hit one fist repeatedly against the plank of wood separating the two of them, she does it regardless.

There's only a thirty second time lapse before someone appears, and she heaves a sigh of relief when Deeks opens up, not Ray.

"Kens?" He asks, his voice a low whisper as he pulls the door open. She doesn't say a single word upon seeing him, but rather just shakes her head and practically falls forward into his arms.

Deeks catches her easily, holding his girl back tightly as she wraps both arms around his neck. Something bad has clearly happened, he just can't see him to locate an answer for what it could possibly be.

But after a long moment of silence, Kensi's keen to provide him with the clarity he desires.

"We're leaving."

Deeks pulls away so he can see her face, the speed at which his chest lifts and lowers rising to a frantic pace.

"You're... what?"

She bites her lower lip, looking just past his head. "My mom woke me up, and she won't tell me what's going on, or where we're going, and I don't know what's happening. It feels like I don't know anything anymore, Deeks."

As she crumbles, he pulls her in again- holding Kensi up before she falls apart completely.

"I think she's leaving my dad."

The hurt and pain inflicted by her mother's decision is evident as she speaks. Deeks' mind is racing, his heart beating sporadically as he tries to simultaneously calm himself and her.

"You're gonna be okay, Kens," Deeks says, closing his eyes as he continues stroking her head of wavy brown hair. All he can do is try to provide a bit of solace, so he takes the opportunity and runs with it.

"Wherever you go. You're gonna do amazing things."

Her fingernails claw at the fabric of his tee shirt, digging in with a fierce intensity as her mind continues telling her to just hold on and not let go.

"I don't wanna do any of it," she whispers. Her heart is completely overpowering her subconscious, which doesn't want to cry. "Not without you."

Like Kensi's told him before- he's the thing she wants the most in the world, and she wants him so bad that she'll do practically anything to get him. He's her frozen lake.

But all of a sudden, it's entirely out of her hands. Neither of them have any control over the outcome.

"I'm s-sorry," she mumbles, the words cut in two by a broken sob. He runs his fingers over her hair, closing both eyes and contemplating how it's possible that Kensi's delivering an apology to him. Simply accepting the words feels selfish.

"It's not your fault," he murmurs, trying to come across as affirming but sure that she can sense his heartbreak, too.

Now that his mom has practically disappeared from his life altogether, Deeks has only two family members left. Ray, and Kensi.

The imminent departure of one sends shockwaves through his body.

"Maybe," she replies, shaking her head against the crook of his shoulder. "But I'm still sorry, Deeks. I just, I just can't-"

"Shhh," he whispers, tightening his grip as he hears her voice grow watery and strained.

If only Kensi could stay right there- never bothering to leave him or the life that she's grown to love. But after a long moment of still and quiet, she finally speaks up again, saying something neither of them want to hear.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers, the tears that stain her cheeks even more visible after they've separated. As Kensi speaks her voice isn't really breaking, but rather sounds as if it already broke a long time ago. "I have to go now."

"Wait!" He exclaims, grasping her wrist in a sudden moment of complete and utter desperation. "Just... take this."

Deeks hands her a folded up piece of paper, their fingers getting muddled together during the handoff. When their skin is no longer touching, an inexplicable lack of warmth seems to fall over his body.

"I was gonna give it to you after school yesterday, but I didn't see you, and-" Deeks stops himself, exhaling before he begins to ramble. "None of that matters. I just want you to have it."

Kensi's eyebrows furrow, tears welling up in both dark orbs. She accepts the note without question though, gently placing it inside of her pocket. Saving it for another time, when Kensi no longer has Deeks around to comfort her seems like the best possible plan.

"I love you."

She says the statement with a flaming sincerity, so that the words come across as strong and firm rather than frail and flowery as they've seemed in the past.

He nods, tears pooling. "I love you too."

Kensi spins around before he can see her fall apart any further, but sneaks one last glance before rounding the corner. She pauses briefly as her eyes catch on him, still just standing right there in the middle of the front lawn.

Both hands are shoved into his pockets as he watches her leave, his facial expression sad but his eyes even sadder. The blue hue has been dulled and muddled, and Kensi hates that she's responsible for taking away the sparkle.

She tucks her head, closing both eyes as they spill over with tears. Each step is like moving farther and farther away from the security she once knew, the life she once knew, but most importantly- the first love she ever knew.

Once inside the car, Kensi slams the door shut immediately. Her mother is staring in her direction, a strong mixture of guilt and concern covering her features. Kensi doesn't care to look, though, as she won't say a single word to this person- the one who's ruining her life for no apparent or glaringly good reason.

Julia senses the tension and doesn't try to appease it, not now anyways. She changes gears, shifting the car into drive.

Once Kensi's sure that her mother won't be staring any longer, she sniffles back a couple of stray tears and pulls out the note Deeks just gave her.

As her eyes read and reread the simple sentence that's been scrawled out in his messy penmanship, she has to lift a hand up to cover her mouth before a gasping sob escapes.

I'm not gonna let you fall through the ice.

- D