AN: Sorry this is short guys. Finals. No time for anything (including proofreading. I still haven't read this yet). Not even sure I'll get to watch until tomorrow. Pray for me, please :)

Blessings,

bookdiva

Take 2: Like I said folks... FINALS! Lol, enjoy the episode tonight... (I don't get to watch, but I will tomorrow.) And also, this is what happens when I try to write without Fern... not a good idea at the best of times. Please enjoy this fixed version of the story :)

Blessings (again)

bookdiva

Joelle's POV

I smiled at the brunette agent as she got up, but she was quickly replaced by her tall, blonde partner.

"So… uh, Preston's is a pretty high-end men's clothing line," he said, sitting on the bench beside me. His partner laughed.

"Deeks," she said, lightly elbowing his shoulder. I couldn't help the feeling that came over me. These two reminded me of someone I'd met… or heard about… or…

"Um, yeah," I answered. It was hard not to when he was looking at me. Sure, I really did like Callen—I might even love him—but that didn't mean I was blind to the very… differently attractive man sitting in front of me. "I was here buying a Christmas gift for my boyfriend."

"Oh," the detective nodded, seeming to think for a moment. "Cool. What'd ya get him?"

"I bought him a dress shirt and a tie," I said, looking down. I groaned internally. It sounded even worse out loud than it had in my head.

"He's a securities trader," I felt compelled to add. "I don't really know what that is…" I trailed off. I wanted to stop, but something in the detective's eyes had me spilling my every thought out. It was almost as if he understood. "But he's got to wear a suit everyday." I looked down again. "I think he'll love it."

"I'm—I'm sure that he will," Detective… Deeks?… said, shooting me a look that clearly called me on my own bluff. I let out a breath that I hadn't even realized I'd been holding.

"I know, right?" I said, feeling the relief course through me. "It's awful. I mean, who does that? Buys their…" I trailed off slightly when his gaze wandered to his partner. "Buys their boyfriend a safe gift."

At that I had the detective's full attention.

"What is that?" he wondered. "What is a safe gift?"

"Zero risk," I said as sincerely as possible. In the back of my mind, it was driving me nuts why this detective—and his NCIS partner—seemed so familiar to me. "Something that says anything but You're the most important person in my world."

"Well you've obviously put a lot of thought into this," he said, tilting his head to the side and studying me for a moment.

"Well I'm good at the safe gift," I found myself saying. For some reason, this man was easy to open up to. "It's the girlfriend thing I could be better at."

"Yeah, I think he's gonna love the shirt and tie, because it's coming from you," the brunette agent interjected. I looked up at her, having almost forgotten she was there.

"Not that he wouldn't enjoy… you know, like a leather gym bag a tad bit more, though," the detective suggested, a knowing glint in his eyes.

A leather gym bag…

"That's actually a really good idea," I said, smiling as he agreed with me. "How did you know tha—"

My phone ringing cut me off.

"Oh!" I looked down at the caller-ID, and seeing Callen's name, I smiled. "Speak of the devil. It's my boyfriend."

"Well, nice to meet you," the detective said as he stood and walked off with his partner.

Kensi's POV

Listening to Callen's girlfriend panic over what to give him for Christmas was more unsettling than I let on, because I'd been going through that exact same thing for the last week.

"I think he'll love it," Joelle said, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself than us. As usual, Deeks picked up on that.

"I'm—I'm sure that he will," Deeks assured her, shooting her a look that I was far too familiar with. Joelle let out a breath.

"I know, right?" she said. "It's awful. I mean, who does that? Buys their… buys their boyfriend a safe gift."

She said the last words as if they were swear words. I felt a pang in my heart.

Me, that's who, I scolded myself. When I even remember the damn day.

"What is that?" Deeks wondered, sounding genuinely interested. "What is a safe gift?"

"Zero risk," Joelle said sincerely. "Something that says anything but You're the most important person in my world."

Those words hit me hard. Deeks was my everything—the most important person to me since my father, and probably ever. How could a gift possibly convey that?

"Well you've obviously put a lot of thought into this," Deeks said, tilting his head to the side and studying Joelle for a moment.

"Well I'm good at the safe gift," I found myself saying. For some reason, this man was easy to open up to. "It's the girlfriend thing I could be better at."

"Yeah, I think he's gonna love the shirt and tie, because it's coming from you," I interjected, unable to keep from defending myself, even though I knew Deeks wasn't even thinking of it—that was all me. She looked up at me as if she'd forgotten I was there.

"Not that he wouldn't enjoy… you know, like a leather gym bag a tad bit more, though," Deeks suggested, a knowing glint in his eyes that was only partially directed at Joelle. I shivered under his ocean-blue scrutiny.

"That's actually a really good idea," Joelle said, snapping me out of my daze. I looked away from Deeks. "How did you know tha—"

Her phone ringing cut her off.

"Oh!" she looked down at the caller-ID, and seeing Callen's name, smiled. "Speak of the devil. It's my boyfriend."

"Well, nice to meet you," Deeks said. I managed a farewell as I followed him away from Joelle.

"Well, we learned one thing on this trip, partner," Deeks said, breaking the silence that hung between us. I looked up at him, confused. He just smirked.

"What's that?" I asked when he didn't offer up an explanation.

"That Callen's dating the non-Agent version of you," he teased.

On instinct, my arm came up to whack him in the arm. Unlike usual, however, he caught my hand and laced his fingers through mine.

"Nope," he said, looking down at me and shaking his head. "If I know you, you're thinking too hard about Joelle's safe gift thing."

I just narrowed my eyes at him—simultaneously hating and loving that he knew me so well—but I didn't pull my hand away.

"So," he continued with a slightly cocky smirk when I didn't contradict him, "I'm gonna go ahead and tell you that you don't have to get me anything for Christmas."

"But that's not—" I protested immediately.

"Uh, uh, uh," he said, holding up the hand that wasn't holding mine. "You don't have to get me anything, cause you're gonna do something for me instead." This time I sent him a glare for real, ready for all the inappropriate comments I was sure he was about to make.

However, he suddenly lost his cocky air, and looked away from my glare.

"For Christmas," he continued, "every time think you wanna hit me, you do what you really wanna do instead," he said, holding up our intertwined hands.

That was not at all what I'd been expecting. His gaze came back to meet mine, and all my thoughts flew out the window at the seriousness I saw there.

I simply nodded and felt my breath hitch in my throat and butterflies dance a samba in my stomach as the mischievous glint sprang back into his eyes.

"It's all about being bold, Fern."

He leaned in so that our faces were less than an inch apart, and I realized that if he kissed me right then and there, I wouldn't do a thing about it but kiss him back. His hands wandered down to my hips, and I felt my eyes slip shut.

Then suddenly, without warning, his presence moved away from me. My eyes sprang open and I looked to see my partner practically skipping to the other side of my car.

"Looks like I get to drive, Kensalina," he said, twirling my keys around once before he hopped into the car.

I stood outside the car for a moment, wrapping my mind around my partner getting the best of me. I had no doubt that I'd get him back for that—and I knew he knew it too—but that didn't stop me from feeling somewhat… proud.

"Touché," I whispered to myself as I opened the door. I slid into the car and, catching his expectant gaze, knew what he was waiting for. So I raised my arm to strike at his shoulder.

And when he once again caught my punch, interlacing our fingers, and drove the car back to the mission, I couldn't help but think that whatever this Christmas present thing of his was about, it wasn't bad at all.