20. I love that you trust me enough to let me drive your car

Kensi likes to be in control. That's not really something she hides.

Sure, she's not the most organized person ever (in fact, she's borderline disorganized) but she controls her environment.

One of the first things he learns when they start working together is that she drives.

It's not something that usually happens or that they can take turns doing. No, this is not even something they can discuss.

She drives. It doesn't matter where they're going or what they're going to do. She's always the one behind the wheel.

It doesn't bother him nearly as much as he knows it would bother Sam or Callen. Truth to be told, he doesn't mind.

She's a good driver. Maybe she could tone down her aggressiveness a bit but then again most people in LA drive the way she does. One must learn how to speak a language people understand while driving to another country. This is kind of the same thing. One needs to adjust the way they drive to the way other people seem to drive in this crazy city.

He never asks why she doesn't let him drive. It's just one of those things he figures it's not worth fighting over. Marty Deeks can be often accused of being an idiot but he can pick his own battles. This one isn't worth fighting for.

But, with time, he learns a lot more things about her. And he comes to a conclusion. It's not just about being in control at all times.

It's deeper than that.

It's about trust.

It doesn't take much to realize she has major trust issues and she needs to drive because she doesn't trust him to do it for her quite yet.

And, once again, that's okay. He accepts it without asking anything because, for some unknown reason, he just knows this goes way deeper than her driving.

A few months into their partnership, Kensi tells him she trusts him. It's a relief to know such a thing but there's something that bothers him in that moment. He doesn't know what it is. His partner told him she trusted him and his reaction should be jumping up and down because that was a real accomplishment. Instead, he was invaded with a strange feeling.

It took him a week to realize what happened. She told him she trusts him but she's still always the one behind the wheel, the one driving them around. That didn't bother him before but it bothers him now. If she trusts him, why can't she let him drive?

He's not asking for much, or at least he doesn't think he is. He's not asking to be left alone with her car. He just wishes she would let him drive, with her in the car and her eyes wide open to see his every move.

Deeks doesn't dare to voice those thoughts because he doesn't want to ruin what took them so long to build. He keeps everything to himself and pretends he doesn't care about their driving arrangements.

The surprise comes a month after her announcement of trust. It's late and they just finished all the paperwork they needed to fill before going home. It's way past two in the morning and they've been up for 20 hours now. That seems to make everyone but Deeks tired (which doesn't come as a surprise given the amount of coffee he drinks). Callen and Sam go home and Deeks waits for Kensi. She gave him a ride to work as she usually does to save gas so he can only leave when she does.

Thankfully, she is done in two minutes. On the way to the car, she lets out a yawn and hands him her car keys.

"I'm sleepy. Can you drive?"

Deeks nods, too shocked and too happy to trust his voice at the moment. They get in the car and he drives her home. Kensi falls asleep in a matter of seconds and Deeks smiles before focusing back on the road.

He's happy she trusts him enough to allow him to drive her car, in the middle of the night and while she sleeps.

AN: Dear readers, I'm sorry that the updates to this story aren't coming as regularly as you would like but the truth is that I started to focus more on my other on-going stories. However, I have a few days off in the next two weeks and I will give my best to write all the chapters left and post them more regularly. Again, I'm sorry I've kept you waiting for so long. Also, I will try to make this chapters longer but I will make no promises.

Reviews are a great way to motivate me, though.

Love,
Sarah