9. I love how strong you are
He has never liked fairytales. There is something about the princess always in need of rescue that makes him sick. Sure, nowadays the girl in need of constant rescue wouldn't be locked in the highest tower of a castle surrounded by guards and a dragon. The girl who always needs rescue nowadays is also called the 'needy' girl.
And he doesn't like 'needy' girls. He likes girls who are independent enough to change a light bulb. He likes girls who are fearless enough to kill a freaking spider. He likes girls who are strong enough to deal with small crisis without picking up the phone and call him at the smallest sight of problems.
Kensi is the perfect girl for him and that realization hits him six months into their partnership. The truth is that he has known it for longer than that but tried as hard as he could to deny it. But she is. She's his type of girl.
The first proof of her independence comes when she gets hit by a car. A needy girl would immediately stay on the ground, crying and begging for someone to help her. A normal girl would simply ask someone to call an ambulance. Kensi gets up, dusts herself off and keeps running to get the bad guy.
The first proof of her fearless attitude comes when she asks him to distract a guy with a gun while she jumps on top of the van he's hiding behind to take his gun. A needy girl would cry her eyes out in a situation like that one, searching for cover behind him. A normal girl would freak out and probably cling onto his arm in fear. Kensi does it like it's the most natural thing in the world for her and even cracks a joke when she knocks the gun out of the guy's hands.
The first proof of her strength comes when she arrives at work one morning with sunglasses on and a slightly red nose. She puts her things down on her desk after saying good morning and excuses herself to go talk to Nate, without taking her sunglasses off. Deeks follows her, even though he knows she will probably kick him hard for this one. He finds her outside Nate's office. She has no intention of going in. So he grabs her gently by the arm and takes her to an empty office.
She ends up telling him that her aunt has a mass on her liver and the doctors can't fix it. Deeks knows how close she is to her aunt so he gathers her in his arms and tries as hard as he can to comfort her.
He loves that she's strong enough to try to get over this on her own but he also loves her because she's strong enough to acknowledge that she can't go through this alone.