Hello dearest readers, thanks for tuning in for a new chapter of Leap of Faith. I'm actually quite proud of this chapter although I must admit that there might be some slight triggering stuff in it for some people, so I apologize for that beforehand.

Just to be sure I'll remind you guys of a couple things before the chapter starts
1) NCIS LA still isn't mine & neither are Kensi and Deeks
2) This story ISN'T a happy go lucky Densi story. Yes it's Kensi & Deeks together. Yes it's romantic Densi but it's NOT all happy and romantic all the time
3) English isn't my native tongue so any errors are mine and can hopefully be forgiven

Okay enough babble beforehand, let's get into it.

Jealousy in romance is like salt in food.

A little can enhance the savor, but too much can spoil the pleasure and under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening.

Maya Angelou

The entire week had been pretty good as far as Kensi was concerned. Finally labeling her relationship with Deeks had brought back her good mood. They had even managed to be completely honest with Hetty and where surprised when the woman gave them their blessing, albeit reluctantly. Hetty had told them that it was their life and they needed to figure out how to live it together, if that's what they wanted, without any interference in team dynamic.
As wonderful as the past week had been Kensi should have known it wouldn't last.

Their latest case had put a damper on their blissful week. Deeks had never been the overly jealous type and Kensi never expected her chosen actions to affect him as much as it did.
But here she was, in the middle of their living room, trying to calm down her partner and lover.

"It was a cover kiss, Deeks" she says firm but kindly, trying to keep the accusing tone from her voice. She wants to forget about today, take a nice hot shower to wash away the day and the lengths she had to go to get the information they needed.

Apparently Deeks doesn't get the message. "Oh so you shoving your tongue down his throat and groping his ass didn't give you any pleasure at all?" he says angrily.

"Deeks" Kensi warns. She had done what needed to be done and it had worked. There was no need to fight about it.

Deeks snorts sarcastically. If she thinks he's going to let this one go she's dead wrong
"Excuse me for not being happy about the way my girlfriend handled it. Even Callen and Sam agreed it was a bit extreme"

"You talked to Sam and Callen about this before you talked to me?" She asks, surprise edged in her tone.
She's a little hurt to be honest; she'd expected them to figure things out together. And she never would have pegged Deeks for talking about her with the boys, not without her knowledge anyway.

"It's called a debrief Kensi" He tries to explain. It's not that he talked about everything that happened during the case but he just wanted to know what Callen and Sam thought about her approach. The three of them had become a lot closer over the years and he considers them not only teammates but also his friends. And friends talk about things like this.

"Keep telling yourself that" She spits out. Her blood is boiling. She's not completely sure where this burst of anger is coming from but she's suddenly feeling extremely hurt and agitated.

"Just like you tell yourself you needed to act like a slut to get the suspect to talk?" Deeks counters. And before they both realize what happens he feels a hand slam hard across his face.
He hears her gasp. Realizing what she just did she feels the tears pricking behind her eyelids and she sees a look of total and utter shock on his face that most likely mirrors hers
Feeling his cheek burning Deeks instinctively puts his hand over the place where hers collided with his face. He can see a million different emotions running across her face
"I" Kensi starts, trying to will the words out. Somehow nothing comes.

Deeks tries to takes a step forward but she cowards back forcefully

"I have to go" she whispers, hurriedly grabbing her purse from the table and running out the door leaving Deeks standing in the living room wondering what the hell just happened.

He tries to stay up for her as long as he can but when the clock shows 3 AM he reluctantly drags himself to bed, realizing he needs to be at work in a couple hours. He quickly wonders how he's going to be able to work properly if he doesn't know where she is but he pushes that thought from his mind just as quickly as it came. He'll see her tomorrow, they'll talk before work. They have to.

The next morning there's still no sign of Kensi though and his initial shock has morphed into anger. The drive into OPS is one with loud blasting music, swerving through the traffic dangerously, checking his phone every two seconds. The device stays eerily quiet though, like it had done the past twelve hours. No call, no text, no app, nothing. If he didn't know any better she could have been lying dead in a ditch somewhere, and they never would get the chance to talk this out. He suppresses that thought quickly; he knows that Kensi's a kick ass, independent, strong woman who has no problem taking care of herself. Ever.

Parking his car in his regular spot he takes a couple deep breaths, calming himself down.
The walk to the bullpen seems longer than normal, he wonders if that's maybe because he's not really ready to see her. But the moment he sees her sitting at her desk, absentmindedly typing away on her computer, he feels the relief wash over him. She's here, she's safe, she's okay. His original thought is to stalk up to her and giving her a piece of his mind but he knows he can't do that here. And, since she's the one who did all the walking away last night he figures she needs to be the one to come back to him.

He quickly looks around to see if there's any sign of their other two team members. He concludes they aren't in close proximity. He's thankful for that because he's pretty sure the there's no way they wouldn't notice the tension.
Plopping himself down behind his desk, he takes a couple deep breaths and opens up his laptop. Minutes seems to tick by ever so slowly without neither of them making any effort to talk.
From the corner of his eyes he can see her sneaking a peek at him every two seconds and it's starting to get on his nerves.
Just when he's about to say something he hears something coming from the other end of the room "I'm sorry" she says timidly.

Deeks head snaps up and he looks at her questioningly "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry" she repeats more steadily, trying to lock their eyes together. She seems ill at ease, and he can't blame her. It's a foreign concept to both of them, Kensi Blye, being shy and unbalanced.

Deeks stalks towards her with determination "Come with me" he states. If she thinks that saying sorry is going to fix everything, she doesn't know him as well as she might think she does.

Apparently Kensi does know better because she follows him without any protest. He guides them to a secluded room and the door isn't fully closed behind her before he turns back to her
"What the hell was that Kensi?" His voice shakes, anger prominent.

She looks at him bewildered, not having anticipated the direct approach "I'm sorry" she says again, not knowing what else to say.

Deeks shakes his head, walking towards a window, putting some distance between them.
As much as he wants to stay calm, his body doesn't get the memo.
"We had a deal Kensi. A fuck-ing deal. But apparently that deal only applies to me and not you" he screams at her, body shaking from anger.

Kensi's head snaps up "Wha-t? " she hates how unsteady she sounds so she swallows, takes a couple breaths and tries again "What do you mean?"

"I seriously don't know what happened last night and I'm sorry I said what I said. I probably deserved that punch Kens, but that's not the problem" Deeks fixes his eyes on her, looking for any signs of understanding. He sees her trying to process the words, and when he gets nothing from her in return he takes a deep breath "You walked away" he croaks out.

Looking in his eyes she sees the pain reflecting in his blue orbs. Realization dawns on her. He's not upset about the punch. He's upset that she walked away from him
"I needed time and space" she admits quietly.

"Then go walk Monty. Kick me to the couch and retreat to the bedroom but don't do what you made me promise never to do to you" he chokes out, his anger morphing into sadness, reliving all the pain he felt last night. It had hurt him more than he ever thought was possible. "The slap hurt Kens, but not nearly as much as you walking out on me"

Kensi swallows hard, understanding the pain she cost him. And as much as she wants to defend herself she knows she can't. She had made him promise to always talk about things and the first thing she did was walk away "I'm sorry Deeks, I'm so sorry" she says quietly. Losing the last of her resolve she breaks down crying. Saying sorry isn't enough, she knows that, but she also knows there isn't anything else she can say that can excuse or forgive what she did, and she's not sure she deserves it either.

It's quiet for a long time. Kensi's quiet sobs the only sound in the room. Deeks had wanted to take her in his arms the moment she started crying but a big part of him was still mad and wanted her to feel some of the pain he had felt last night. Eventually he can't take seeing her in this much distress anymore, so he takes a couple steps towards her
"Promise me you won't do it again"
Kensi's red rimmed eyes search his "Huh?" she asks, not having heard him.
"Just promise me you won't do it again Kens, and we'll forget about it" Deeks elaborates. He knows that it's probably not going to be as easy as he makes it sound. This will probably linger for a little bit longer but he really doesn't want to dwell on it too much right now.

"Won't do what?" Kensi asks. It's not that she doesn't know what he means, but she needs to hear it.

"Slap me or walk away" Deeks answers timidly "Preferably both, but I'll settle for the latter since I know you have a knack for punching" he says, trying to lighten the mood. He opens his arms and Kensi manages a small chuckle nuzzling herself into his embrace "This is hard" she admits quietly.

Deeks drops a kiss on her forehead "Everything worthwhile is hard work" he explains "We just need to learn together, Kensi. You and me"

"Aren't you philosophical all of a sudden" Kensi says, adapting to the lighter mood

"It's you and me, Kens. Long haul, remember?" he reminded her, ignoring her little jab. He needs her to remember they're in this together, until the end.

"Long haul" she repeats. Smiling, she remembers the words spoken between them months ago.

"Long haul" he echo's, dropping another kiss on the top of her head.

Kensi feels herself relaxing a little. Tilting her head, she peppers his cheek with kisses "I'm truly sorry Deeks" she says a final time.

Deeks puts his hands on either side of her face "It's okay" he says, surprised by the sincerity in his voice. It really is.
"Kensi Blye, you still pack a mean punch" he says.
That actually gets a real snort out of her. A small chuckle escapes his throat and she feels the tension ooze out of his body. Thinking back on how badly this day had started, she shutters one last time, willing herself to relax.

That evening they eat dinner in front of the TV, with her nuzzled in between his legs, completely and utterly relaxed. They'd both seem to have settled into their usual routine, forgotten everything that happened over the past twenty four hours. That is until the man on the screen slaps his wife hard across the face.
Deeks feels her tense up before she even utters his name
"Kensi" he tries, but she seems to be frozen in her position "I told you it was okay. Please don't beat yourself up over it" he says, trying to calm her down. He can feel her whole body tense against him further, shuttering once again "Okay, poor choice of words, but seriously Kensi. Look at me"
She can't seem to move. She wants to talk, wants to turn her head and look at him, but she can't. She's too scared, still too shocked by her own actions.
"Look at me please" he pleads. Deeks knows that if they don't resolve this now it's going to linger even longer than they want it to and as far as he's concerned it's done. No need to dwell.

Kensi suddenly stands, curling herself into a ball on the opposite end of the couch. Images of her slap playing on a loop in her head. Deeks tries to slide towards her but she looks at him with scared eyes
"Kensi please" he says, opening his arms, silently pleading to curl into him. Her eyes are scared, questioning, but after a couple more minutes she's convinced there's only sincerity reflecting in his so she takes all of her courage, crawls towards him and lunges herself into his arms.
He feels the sobs before he hears them and he does the only thing he knows to do. He tries to comfort her, not with words, but with his actions. His grip tightens around her and his one arm brushes over her long locks and the other keeps rubbing her back steadily.
They stay like that for a long time until she rolls herself over and curls herself into his side. The sight before him breaks his heart, his kick ass Kensi doesn't look so kick ass now with swollen eyes and tear streaks on her face. He waits for her to talk

"I'm sor-"
he kisses her hard before she even gets to finish "If I hear you're sorry one more time you're sleeping on the left side of the bed for a month" he jokes, trying to light the mood.
Kensi gives him a small smile "I really am though" she sighs, looking straight into his eyes. She knows she's said sorry about a million times but she figures she'll need to say it another million before she feels she can be forgiven.

"I know" Deeks takes her hands and curls their fingers together. He kisses her hair before continuing "You know what, just promise next time you get the urge to slap, punch or kick something or more specifically that something being me, try hitting anything other than the pretty face will ya?"

It's typical Deeks to try and make a joke out of a serious situation but she doesn't feels he deserves it this time "Deeks" she says timidly

He knows she's feeling extremely guilty and he's done with it "Kens, come on. It happened, you're sorry. End of story" Taking their joined hands he raises them to his mouth and drops a kiss to them.

"I really don't know what came over me" she says, moving to get up.

Deeks grabbed her arm before she can pull away from him further "You're an 'action' girl Kens. You do first, think later. I've gotten used to the bruises over the years"

Kensi glared at him. "Bruises?" she asked.

"Yeah, you seriously don't punch like a girl you know. My skin isn't used to getting 'roughed up' like that. It's delicate" Deeks explained smiling.

Kensi stilled for a moment, trying to decide if she'd be able to get away with her next pun
"I'll try to keep that in mind next time" she said, deciding to go for it.

"Next time?"

Kensi swallowed hard seeing the shock on his face "Too soon?" she asked

Deeks smiled, squeezing her hand "Just didn't see that one coming"

"Good" she said, nestling herself back into his side.

Deeks suddenly feels himself become quite sleepy. With Kensi absentmindedly flipping through the TV channels he lets himself succumb to the drowsiness.

Kensi stared at the blank screen for a while, trying to put her thoughts back in order before she spoke. Pressed against his heart she could hear his steady heartbeat "Deeks?" she asked after a moment.

"Yes?" he answered. His voice full of sleep.

"We're good?" Kensi asked timidly. She didn't want to become annoying but she needed to know they'd moved on from this.

Deeks pressed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at her "We've never 'not' been good" he told her softly, placing a kiss on her cheek lightly

"Deeks" Kensi sighed "You know what I mean" she said, melting into his touch.

Deeks trailed his lips back to her ear "Yes Kens, we're good" he whispered.

"Promise?" she managed to crack out, trying her hardest to stay cool

"Promise" Deeks echoed

"Now there's just one thing left we need to do" Kensi says, locking their eyes together.

"And that is?" Deeks asks cheekily, having a pretty good idea what she meant

"Now" she whispers, letting her breath tickle his ear "Now I'm going to take my time to show you just how much I love you" she trails off in a whisper, kissing against his ear. "All night long" she finishes, biting down on his earlobe hard enough to cause him to gasp.

His eyes flew towards hers. He can't help the shutter that escapes his body upon hearing her words.
Her eyes twinkle from excitement, knowing full well what affect it had on him. She sighed one final time, letting all the frustrations of the day out before reaching out her hand, helping him up and finally connecting their lips together in a long slow passionate kiss.

A/N Okay, I know that for some of you that slap wasn't what you'd expected to happen but there's something I need to say about that.
I felt like I could be a 'natural' thing that could happen between them. Kensi had always been a puncher and Deeks knows that. Until now all of her punches where addressed to his shoulder blades with the exception of the one face slap heard around the world in season 5.
Kensi's a passionate person, she's also very emotional. Unlike the slap in season 5 the slap that I've written wasn't done deliberately. She didn't mean to hit him this time, it was just an accumulation of built up frustration and anger during their talk/fight and it got away from her.
That's also why, unlike last time, she'd felt so extremely guilty afterwards and felt like she didn't deserve to be forgiven easily.
In my opinion both Kensi and Deeks are very straightforward people. If somethings wrong,it's wrong, when something's right, it's right. They both still need to learn that there's a grey area that they can operate between. They're trying their best to give this relationship the best chance they can give it and it's going to have its ups and downs but like Deeks said, they're in this together for the long haul.

I'm still very excited for the rest of this story and I hope you guys are too. If there's something you want me to address or need me to clear up, just let me know.

Please don't forget to review and let me know what you think about this chapter, I'd love to hear it (and it's a great motivator to keep writing)

Have a great week & we'll see each other again next Sunday!