"What changed?" Kensi asks herself as she drives aimlessly around the streets of Los Angeles.

The events leading up to the question she so desperately wants to ask her partner have been plaguing Kensi ever since Deeks had unexpectedly returned her knife. She is usually the one to pull away first, to build the fictitious brick wall around her higher to try to hide whatever new detail of her life she's just revealed to him. Now she can't figure out what happened to make him be the one to pull away.

Something their "suspect", as they treated him anyway, said had triggered a negative response within him. From the get go, Deeks was on edge with Paul Angelo. And the more he spoke, the more on edge Deeks appeared. Kensi knows that it's been a while since they've worked together, but he's never let someone get to him like that in the past.

She never got the chance to ask what Angelo said to spook him, or why he thought he would one day cross the line between right and wrong, or why she would be the reason he crossed it. Between their thing, and boxes, and feelings that are still not resolved, there just wasn't enough time in their day to discuss this small detail. She has a feeling though, that the small detail in question is the entire reason he is pulling away from her.

Kensi doesn't want to go home yet and face her own personal self-doubt about the situation. Did she do something to scare him away? She knows that she hasn't misinterpreted his feelings for her; their communication while she was in Afghanistan cemented her confidence in his feelings for her. Driving around the city, lost in thought, she realizes how late it is when her stomach growls loudly.

"Ha! Really." She laughs, seeing a Del Taco coming up on the right-hand side of the road. "This must be a sign." Running through the drive-thru, she orders a variety of chicken, turkey, and fish tacos. When she pulls out of the parking lot, this time she knows exactly where she's going.

After coming home from work, Deeks drank a few beers and crashed on his couch with reruns of old sitcoms playing in the background. Much to his displeasure, Kensi's Cadillac was gone from the parking lot after he essentially rebuffed her attempt to talk about their relationship. Maybe she needed space. Maybe she thought he needed space. The problem with not communicating with words is that feelings and intentions are often just assumed instead of confirmed. And in untypical Deeks fashion, he chose to leave her alone that night.

The knock on his door startles both him and Monty awake. Monty walks to the door with his tail wagging, so Deeks knows that it's either Kensi or the sweet old Venezuelan lady that lives a few doors down from him and brings him heaps of delicious home-cooked food once or twice a week. Seeing as how Señora Salas goes to bed at eight o'clock at night, that leaves only Kensi; he still peaks through the peephole to confirm it. Sure enough, she's standing at his door, bouncing up and down nervously with a huge Del Taco bag in her arms.

Deeks can't help but smile, even if he is dreading the reason she's here: communication. They both have failed in the past, and have promised to do better. He definitely broke that promise earlier today. He can't guarantee he'll be able to do much better tonight either, but partnerships and relationships are about the give and take; Kensi is doing a lot of giving at the moment, and deserves some in return.

Putting his serious face back on, Deeks shoos Monty out of the way and pulls the door open. "Uh, hey partner?"

Kensi shoves the bag of tacos into his chest and runs past him, talking quickly. "Hey. Sorry. Really gotta pee. Bye."

Deeks follows behind her until she slams the bathroom door in his face. "Okay...so are you just here for a potty break or..."

"Can we talk after I pee, Deeks?"

"Yeah, no. Sure. I'll just be...holding your tacos." He walks back to his kitchen slowly and pulls out a beer for Kensi and pours a glass of water for himself. Grabbing a few paper towels, he settles back down on his couch and is pulling the tacos out of the bag when Kensi reappears. She plops down next to him and grabs a taco, unwrapping it quickly and taking a bite. Deeks stares at her, still slightly confused. "So, tacos? Really?"

"Yes, really. I was hungry, and if you remember, I never did get my tacos." Kensi finishes her taco in four bites and crumples the wrapper in her hands, tossing it into the bag. "I haven't even been home yet. I was just driving around, thinking about everything. And you know what I realized?"

Deeks unwraps a taco and eyes Kensi warily. "That you had to pee?"

"That I'm tired of thinking! My brain literally hurts from thinking." She chugs at her beer, stifling a belch when she sets it back down on his coffee table.

"There are so many things I can say about that right now..." Deeks starts to say, but the irritated look on Kensi's face shuts him up. "But uh, I'll save that for another time."

"Are you not going to ask what I was thinking about?"

Deeks looks down at his half eaten taco. "I have a pretty good idea."

"Shouldn't it be easier than this? Are we over-thinking it to death?" Kensi sighs and unwraps another taco.

"This isn't a simple situation, Kens."

"So let's simplify it, then."

Now it's Deeks' turn to sigh. "And how do we do that?"

"We just need to talk about it." Kensi finishes off another taco, takes another sip of beer, and curls one leg underneath her on the couch to get comfortable. "So. Let's talk."

"Talk?"

"Yes, talk."

Deeks nods his head, turning to face her on the couch. "Okay. What should we start with?"

Kensi looks at him, trying to cover up the fact that she's disturbed and saddened by the sudden change in her partner. "I need to know what changed." He purses his lips, debating internally about the best way to respond. But Kensi starts babbling before he got a chance to speak. "I mean, this morning you were, ya know, normal Deeks, with the flirting and asking what I was doing tonight. And yeah, I hesitated, but it was just for a second because...I don't know why because. And then we have a case, and we spend maybe 30 minutes with this cocky asshole Angelo, and all of a sudden you're different. Why?"

Looking down at his hands anxiously, Deeks remains silent still. He can feel her eyes boring holes into his head, and he just doesn't want to have this conversation with her right now. But like with everything else Kensi related, he's unable to deny her for long.

"Deeks?"

"Yeah, I know. It's because I..." He pauses, chewing on his lip. "I cracked."

Kensi narrows her eyes at him. "Are you using my own metaphor against me?"

"No, I'm not talking about your frozen lake. I know all about that now. I'm saying that me, I cracked."

She shakes her head. "I still don't understand, because you're still not actually talking."

"Look," he says, reaching a hand forward for hers, hesitating for a second before sliding her fingers in between his. She's looking at him expectantly, like she actually wants to hear what he's going to say; but he's not as sure as she is. "I thought I had everything figured out when you left. But everywhere I looked, I saw someone who had been hurt by getting too close to something, or someone. It was like I had a flashing sign on my forehead that said 'tell me everything that has gone wrong in your life' or something. And then you..."

"I know," Kensi interrupts gently.

"But you don't know everything," Deeks says, shaking his head sadly. "There is one thing that hasn't changed. You were, and you still are, the most important thing in my life." Kensi's eyes soften, and Deeks shakes his head again. "But that's the problem. I spent months telling myself that what you and I have doesn't change how we work together, that it wouldn't affect our abilities to do our jobs because we look out for each other no matter what, and being together wouldn't affect that."

"And i disagreed with that." Kensi squeezes his hand.

"And you were right."

Kensi exhales and tilts her head. "What happened?"

"I came to a realization. From the minute I saw you trapped in that room of lasers, I knew one thing for sure. I was willing to die for you." He rubs his jaw nervously, and Kensi places her hand over his on his jaw, nodding in agreement. "But now, it's much more than that. When it comes to you, I don't know where to draw the line anymore. It's not just that I'm willing to die for you. If I had too, I'd kill for you. And that scares the hell out of me."

Kensi brushes her thumb across the short hairs along his jaw. "So you're scared?" He shrugs his shoulders in defeat, because even though he's not an overly proud man, he still doesn't want to admit that he's scared of something; especially not to her. "Do you think I'm not scared? That maybe I haven't realized for myself yet what you just said, but that it's probably true for me too?"

"So you understand?" Deeks looks at her with a little bit of sadness and a lot of hope in his eyes.

Kensi forces a smile onto her face and closes the gap on the couch between her and Deeks, draping her arms around his shoulders. His arms wrap around her waist, pulling her into a tight embrace. They sit in each others arms silently for a few minutes; they both know how the other feels, but even knowing that doesn't make their situation easier. It might even make it harder.

Closing her eyes, Kensi realizes that unfortunately her partner has given her even more to think about. She runs her fingers through his hair, and he squeezes her even tighter. "Yeah, Deeks. I understand."