***Chapter rated M***

Eric and Nell made their way up the walk and into his house without talking or touching. Once inside, they seated themselves on the couch and faced each other in a decidedly uncomfortable silence. Eric looked both nervous and distraught as he decided to be the one to start. "I just want to understand what I did to make you want to break up. If the drawer and house key was too soon, then you should have told me so we could have talked about it or something. I really just thought that was the next step for us. Obviously, I was wrong but-"

"Eric, stop.", Nell said, eyes welling up. "You didn't do anything wrong here; it was all me. And you were right about how I keep you- kept you- at arm's length and I am so, so sorry for that. The truth is, when you gave the drawer and keys, it was the right move and I knew it and it scared the shit out of me because I never have had a relationship go past that point, which is probably why I kept you at a distance- I didn't want you close enough to hurt me. So I thought it was the beginning of the end and I freaked out. I thought I was losing you even though you were trying to keep me and I think I always thought we would break up so I wanted to hurt you. If you hate me you can't be too hurt, right? I mean I want you to be happy so I tried to crush you." Nell said trailing off into a squeaky whimper as she finished and put her face in her hands, totally in sobs.

Eric was momentarily stunned, caught off guard by what Nell had said and by the sight of her so vulnerable. Even in their relationship, she didn't show him this side of her. After a few minutes he asked, "Why did you think we would eventually break up? And…you thought I would hurt you? Like on purpose? I woul- I don't know what I did to make you think that. And if I didn't do something to make you think that then… you must not…you don't trust me. At all."

"I thought we would break up because I have always been the one broken up with. I'm the one who gets left. Crushed. Dumped for a girl who is less weird, less obsessive, less controlling, taller, prettier, hipper. You know, 'the whole package'?" And I do trust you. I do. I just-I panicked. I saw the keys and I just thought 'It's happening again.'. So I panicked. The fact is I never thought you would hurt me like all the other guys did…until I saw the keys. And I knew if I accepted the drawer, unpacked and let myself settle into…something deeper…with you that it would only hurt worse. And that's why when you didn't break up with me, I picked a fight from nothing so I would have an excuse to get out before I could be trampled. Again. I should have realized that you didn't want to trample me but I could not let myself think that because I have thought that before and been mistaken. I would do anything to take it back, to change what happened. I miss you so much I can't stand it. I feel like I'm being suffocated I feel empty."

"I miss you too. And you are not too weird, too obsessive, or too controlling to me. I love how your shoulders are the perfect height for me to lay my arm on when we would sit here and watch TV and you could curl up into me. And you are beautiful, every single inch of you I wouldn't change a thing. Not a single hair or freckle or funny-shaped toenail. And let's face it, there is nothing cooler than a girl who can beat her boyfriend at Duck Hunt. I just wish you would have told me this so we could have talked and not had the fight. I hate fighting…ugh, I mean it's horrible. I was never going to break up with you. I want a life with you, but only if you can meet me in the middle. I can't go through this every time you get scared. Relationships are scary shit, Nell. You have to fight or you will always lose. And, yeah, even if you fight, you still might lose but at least you know you tried."

Nell could hardly believe what she was hearing. She was so overwhelmed with what he said that she could not think for a few minutes. She just sat and processed. "Can we try again? Will you let me?", she asked in a whisper.

Eric chanced a small smile before replying. "We need to agree on a few things first. No more fight picking. Just tell when something doesn't feel right with you and I'll do the same. I shouldn't have waited until the fight to say how I didn't feel like I was a part of your life or that I was always the first to say 'I love you' and I'm sorry for that. I'll do better. But you might have to tell me a couple times; remind me, you know? I am a guy after all. And no more running, I want you to talk to me, to tell me if I screw up or if you aren't happy. Does that sound okay to you?"

Nell smiled and took his hand. "Yeah, no running, no fight picking, more talking about feelings. Very emotionally mature, Eric." They both smiled and scooted closer. "Just one addition, though. I do your stuff too, as much as you do the things I like. I want you in my life and I want to be in yours."

"Agreed.", he said.

"Agreed.", she said.

And with that, they were a couple again. Eric grabbed Nell by the waist and pulled/ lifted her on to his lap and they kissed as if they had been apart for months rather than days. As Eric pulled her closer, one hand in her hair, Nell ground her hips into his, feeling that he was already ready for hot make up sex. "Dear God in heaven Eric, I never want to go four days without sex from you ever again", Nell said breathlessly as Eric grabbed her ass and stood up. Nell wrapped her legs all the way around his waist as he carried her to the bedroom.

They stripped faster than they ever had before. Eric was undressed first and pushed Nell onto the bed the second her panties hit the floor. He got on top and resumed kissing Nell as she ran her hands over every part of his body she could reach. Eric responded to her touch by placing a finger at her opening and slowly tracing circles, causing Nell to arch up and start to pant in excitement. He put his finger inside and then another, making Nell scream his name; scream for him to give her what she had so desperately missed these past few days; begging him to make her cum.

Eric took out his fingers and braced himself over Nell, placing his tip where she would be the most tortured. Nell moaned and pressed her body upward. Looking each other in the eyes and smiling, Eric pushed into Nell so slowly that Nell actually gasped, "Oh my God you are doing this to me on purpose! Please, Eric- faster."

Eric was happy to oblige and began to thrust quickly. Nell dug her nails into his back, knowing he would not feel any pain at this moment, and wrapped her legs around his lower back. She was working against him, drawing back each time Eric pulled back and raising her hips again to meet his hard thrusts. The sensation and friction make them both scream and gasp and moan every time their pelvises rammed together. Hanging on to each other, Nell's head pressed back into the pillows as her body arched up, they finished at the same time. Eric collapsed on Nell, totally spent and breathless. Nell was still moaning, on a post-climax high.

Still breathing heavily, Nell managed to say, "I think we might have set a new standard for ourselves. I know we broke the mold for makeup sex, though. I think I'll add this night to what I love about you."

Eric rolled over and said with a sheepish grin, "Sex from you made my list of what I love about you our first time. You stole my innocence, Nell Jones, and it was fucking hot."

Nell just laughed at his play on words. "You're fucking hot, too."

Both laughed as they lay side by side, barely covered by the sheets of Eric's bed. As they grew quite, Nell looked at Eric in a way nobody had ever looked at him before. It was tender, deep, and exciting all at the same time. Looking into her dark brown eyes, Eric could swear he felt his heart grow with the sheer energy of all the possibilities that look seemed to bring into his life. Not breaking her gaze, Nell said softly, "I love you." As Eric made to reply the same, Nell gently covered his lips with her finger as her thumb caressed his cheek, signaling him that this, whatever it was, was for him to take in. Something for her to give him.

Nell repeated, "I love you." and kissed his lips. She wanted to give him this measure of security, this small apology for never saying those three small yet essential words first because she was so certain he would ruin her that she could not let herself be this open before. Things were different now. She wanted to show him what she had told him. So she made her way all over his face and neck, saying "I love you" and then gently kissing Eric. She kept going, making down his body, taking care to place a kiss on Eric's body each time she repeated the words he so deserved to hear from her. Every kiss was as different as the tone of voice and inflection she used to whisper to her lover.

As Eric watched Nell, the woman he loved so dearly and had wanted to spend his life with crawl over his naked body, covering him with kisses, he was overwhelmed: the openness and tenderness of this moment was incomparable to anything he had experienced with another person in his entire life. It was comforting, reassuring, exhilarating, and calming all at the same time. Nell continued on her exploration of Eric until he was ready to take her again and couldn't wait any longer to reciprocate what she had just done for him. This time, their love was slower, more passionate and focused on the pleasure of the other rather than on raw desire. When they were finally done, breathless and spent, they curled up into the other and fell asleep as the bright California sun made its appearance on the horizon.

When Eric and Nell woke up, they talked for hours, never leaving the bed. They expanded on all the things Nell had said the night before, their shared hopes and dreams, and the way they would build their lives together. They spent the weekend together, growing closer in those two days than they had in the entire six months of dating. When Nell finally left Monday morning to go home and get ready for work, she left her underwear and bra in the drawer given to her, unable to leave Eric's home without making it partially her own.

In Ops later that morning, the team of agents was assembled in the bullpen, trying to casually compare notes on their weekend while casting anxious glances to the door, obviously looking for Eric and Nell to show up, though nobody would admit to that. When the techs came walking down the hall, they did not notice Callen glancing in their direction, catching them holding hands (which were soon separated since they were at work) and shooting each other those dewy- eyed looks Sam seemed to both hate and envy. "We're all good", Callen informed his team as the techs came by, waving a good morning before heading upstairs to their computer cave.

Once Eric and Nell were safely out of sight and out of earshot, the agents quickly reached into their pockets and desk drawers looking for their betting slips to see who had come closest to guessing when the lovebirds would make up.

Hetty won.