Not sure what more I can say up here, besides acknowledging the fact that your support has continued to be absolutely amazing! I read each and every one of your reviews- thank you so much for all the kind words:)

- Hazel

Deeks drives down the empty, desolate highway, the radio turned completely off so Kensi can sleep. She looks at least somewhat relaxed beside him, and it's a calming thing to see. Puts his mind at ease.

It's around nine now, but with the middle-of-the-night interruptions they've both received over the past couple of days, it feels like midnight. Deeks yawns widely, finding it impossible to keep both eyes open as he does so. The car swerves and he quickly grabs at the steering wheel, immediately working hard to steady his bobbing head.

Looking to the right, he's surprised to find Kensi still totally zonked out. If he didn't know her better, Deeks would be checking for a pulse.

As his heavy eyelids keep on wanting to close, he makes a rash decision to pull over on the side of the road. The last thing Deeks wants is to crash the car because of something trivial, like falling asleep at the wheel. They've had enough drama for one week.

Even after the truck comes to a standstill, Kensi remains in the exact same position- her head resting against the car window, both hands curled up beneath her cheek. The tears that stain her face have begun to dry, both eyes squeezed tightly closed.

He's sure she wants to get home- they both do. But sleep is necessary for basic functioning, so Deeks takes a leap of faith and grabs Kensi's cell phone from the cup holder.

Not wanting to awaken her, he pulls the key from the ignition and steps outside, his eyes glued to her the entire time. The emptiness that surrounds the two of them is almost eerie, but it still puts his mind at ease that there's nobody around to do a double take.

He flips the phone open, finding about thirty missed calls from Kensi's mother. His heart skips a beat but he just ignores them, sifting through her contacts list to find a different name- one listed simply as 'Dad.'

His heart pounds as the dial tone begins to sound. Deeks shoves both hands into the pockets of his dark wash jeans, squinting one eye as he awaits a frantic answer on the other line.

After only three rings, Deeks gets exactly what he bargained for.

"Kensi?! Is that you? Where the hell did your mother take-"

"Um, no, no- Mr. Blye?"

The heavy breathing slows down, his tone lowering.

"Who is this?"

Deeks scratches the back of his head, glancing over to Kensi and bracing for impact.

"It's her... boyfriend. Marty Deeks. She called-"

"I should've know that you two would've run away again. Kensi tried to convince me into liking you, but I knew all along that I should've listened to Julia-"

"No, no, sir- please, let me explain! I'm taking Kensi home."

A long pause ensues, and Deeks can almost hear the wheels turning.

"Okay. But where are you?"

He glances around, giving the best description he can muster. "Nevada, but we should be crossing the border back into California pretty soon."

Kensi's dad swallows, his confidence faltering. "Um... why?"

"What do you-"

"Why is she there? Where's her mom? Why are you there?"

Deeks exhales as he leans back against the front grill, telling the story of exactly what had occurred over the past couple of days.

Kensi coming over in the middle of the night, saying goodbye. Her late night call to him, when she said that she wanted to come home. Deeks tells him that she'd planned on finding some alternate means of transportation, but that he'd offered to come and pick her up, not leaving any room for protest.

"Thank you for doing that," he says simply as Deeks wraps up his little rant. The words are kind, but Deeks can tell that his mind is elsewhere.

"Yeah, of course. I really just wanted you to know that she's safe."

Donald sighs. "Okay. Good. That's... that's good."

He doesn't prompt another question, but Deeks feels it's implied and gives an answer regardless. "We should be home later tonight. I wanted to know if I had permission to pull over and sleep for a little while though... I've been nodding off."

"While driving?"

"Yeah. Um, I mean, yes sir." He has to keep on correcting himself. This is Kensi's father, so he has to sound grown.

"Go ahead, then. It sounds like you could use the rest. Is she asleep?"

Deeks looks behind his shoulder. "Uh-huh. Has been for the past couple of hours, since I picked her up."

"Is she... okay?"

He folds one arm across his chest. "Not really, sir. I think she's mostly just confused."

"Okay." The sadness is evident in his tone. "Bring her home for me?"

Deeks stands up tall. "Yes sir."

There isn't any sort of an acknowledgement on the other end, just a dropped call.

The sun awakens Kensi, successfully pulling her out of a sleep induced daze. Glancing to her left, she finds the driver's seat beside her occupied. Deeks is sleeping beside her, his jaw hanging open as the car remains idle on the side of the road.

Checking the time on her phone, Kensi finds that it's almost noon- which seems a bit late in the day for them to be taking a rest.

"Deeks?" She says, her voice surprisingly croaky as she rattles his shoulder. "Deeeeeeeeks?"

"Hmm? What?" He perks up immediately, wiping at his eyes. "What time is it? Do we need to go? I'm sorry, I never should've-"

"Heeeeey," Kensi says, drawing out the word and placing both hands out to calm him before he throws the car into drive. "It's fine, we're fine."

"Oh. Okay," he says, settling back into the seat.

"Were you napping?" She asks, though the answer already seems obvious.

Deeks rubs his eyes, yawning widely. "Yeah, but I called to make sure it was okay first."

"Called who?"

"Your dad."

Her throat constricts. Even Kensi hadn't been brave enough to do that yet.

"My... my dad?"

He nods sleepily. "Yeah. I asked him if we could park the car and nap for a bit before the long drive. He told me that it was fine... your dad doesn't want me falling asleep at the wheel, it seems. Not too shocking."

"What else did you tell him?"

"Well..." He cocks his head to the side. "Everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything that I know. I'm sure he could put the pieces together."

Kensi nods slowly, looking sullen as she stares at the floorboard.

"I'm sorry," he adds. "It wasn't really my place, I just-"

"No, Deeks," Kensi interrupts, extending a hand out to rest on his arm. "Thank you for doing that. I'm glad you told him."

"Really?" He looks relieved, but in a puzzled sort of way.

"Yeah. I mean, I didn't want to be the person to deliver that news." Kensi shakes her head, once again diverting her gaze off of him. "I can't believe she would ever do that to him, honestly."

"Do what?"

When her head lifts, both eyes are sparkling with tears. Kensi pushes them back though- she won't let a single water droplet escape. Not again. She's craving numbness, not emotion.

"I just can't believe my mom left, without giving my dad any sort of a reason." She inhales sharply, anger overriding the sadness. "He deserves better than that, Deeks. He deserves better than her."

"I know," he says, though he really doesn't. But when it comes down to it, all Deeks can do is try and sympathize with her. Maybe carry some of the weight.

"Life seemed so perfect for awhile, ya know?" Kensi glances out the window, her fists clenching. "I moved, found you, became happy. Then my dad was on his way home, and he was going to help me sort everything out with my mom. It was all going to be okay, in the end. But we didn't even get a chance to do any of it. She just..." Kensi lazily tosses an arm in the air. "Ran away."

"I'm sorry."

She waves him off, sniffling. "It's fine. I'm fine."

"That's a lie."

"No it's not."

"Come on. I know you, Kens- you only say that you're fine when you aren't actually fine."

"I'm-" She stops herself upon turning to look at him directly. "Okay, maybe I'm not fine."

"I know."

"But I will be soon enough. It's over now." Her eyes grow hard and stiff. "I need to just move on."

He shakes his head, snorting for emphasis, not humor. "You can't be so hard on yourself, Kens. You've had, what, a little over a day to process this? That's nothing."

"There's no good in riding on the bad."

"You're right. But pushing everything down and telling yourself that it's all fine when it's not doesn't help much either, now does it?"

Kensi stares at him for a long moment before chuckling lightly, looking down to her lap.

"What?"

"You didn't realize that you were falling in love with a wild card, did ya? Now you have to help me clean up this... this mess."

Deeks shrugs, not seeming phased as he jets out his lower lip. "I figured it out pretty quickly. First day we met, you told me that you moved around a lot. I decided that I'd just deal with it. I liked you."

"But if you knew that, why'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Fall for me."

He smiles, eyebrows furrowed. "I didn't have much of a choice in the matter, Kens. That's not how it works."

"Maybe. But you... you just kept trying, no matter what. You were so persistent with me."

He shrugs again. "I liked you. A lot. That's what you're supposed to do, isn't it? You're supposed to try."

"I mean..." Deeks' eyebrows are raised, but he's still grinning. "Yeah. You're right."

"Then why are you still hesitating?"

"Because I feel bad, Deeks!" She exclaims, tossing both hands in the air. "I roped you into this. It's like I tricked you into loving me, when I knew all along how crazy my life can be."

"Back then, all you knew was that your dad's job happened to be a bit unstable. That's it. You couldn't have anticipated anything more."

She nods and subsequently shakes her head at the same time, as if there's a puzzle sitting in front of her that just can't be deciphered.

"I know."

He waits for something more, but it doesn't come so Deeks just fills the silence.

"You didn't rope me into anything, either. I love you because I love you. It can't be helped."

"Wow. How poetic."

"I've gotten about three hours of sleep over the past two and a half days. I think you can cut me some slack."

"Sorry about that," she mumbles, sheepishly crossing her arms.

Deeks waves her off instantly. "No biggie. I don't mind it. Sleep is for losers."

"You just pulled over to take a nap before driving the rest of the way home."

"That's different. I'm merely working to keep you safe, and if that means I have to nap on the side of the road, I'll do it."

She chuckles, her voice still groggy. "I appreciate the sacrifice."

"Don't sweat it. But we should probably hit the road now."

"Probably."

"I still want your dad to like me. He won't if we come rolling in at two am."

"I'm pretty sure he already likes you, especially after all of this."

"All of what?"

"You, driving to Nevada in the middle of the night to pick me up."

"It sounds rather gallant, when you put it that way."

"You were pushy, but yes- you were also gallant."

"How was I pushy? I just didn't want you trying to hitchhike your way back to California."

"I was never gonna hitchhike, Deeks!"

"Then what was your plan?"

"I dunno... take the bus?"

"Was there a bus station anywhere around? Did you have any money, or know what state you were in? I'm pretty certain that my assistance was necessary."

She narrows her eyes, speaking begrudgingly. "Fine. Touche."

"Ah-ah," Deeks says, winking as he revs the engine. "There it is."