Thanks for all the amazing reviews for the last chapter! I'm thrilled that so many people like this story. I'm really enjoying writing it and funnily enough, I keep getting inspiration for other stories while I'm writing it – shameless plug for my new series "Emotions". Anyway, hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Nell felt something warm and soft brushing across her cheek and as she slowly opened her eyes, she found herself staring at Callen's chest. Lifting her head, she saw he was gazing down at her with a soft smile on his face. She blinked a few times as she fully woke up and realised exactly where she was – curled up in Callen's arms, again.
"Hey." he said softly, his fingers tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Hey." She smiled back, meeting his intense blue eyes as they stared down at her.
"Sleep well?" his voice was almost a whisper.
"Uh huh." Nell nodded, unable to tear her eyes away from his. The way he was looking at her had her unnerved. There was purpose behind his bright blue eyes but she couldn't work out what that purpose was. She bit down on her lower lip and hitched in a breath as his fingers stroked down her cheek, her stomach twisting into knots when she saw him lean in towards her.
Callen wasn't really sure what he was doing but he let his fingers brush against Nell's cheek and he leaned in close, his tongue licking his dry lips. He locked eyes with her and for several long moments they just stared at each other, each breathing short sharp nervous breaths.
Then suddenly a loud beeping sound cut through the air and snapped them from the moment. With a heavy sigh Callen pulled away and reached into his pocket to pull out his cell. Nell lifted herself off his chest and sat up as he checked the message.
"Sam." Callen nodded. "Lunch is ready."
"Oh, okay." Nell ran her hands through her hair and as she brought them back to her lap, she realised they were trembling a little. She glanced at Callen and could tell immediately he was thinking about what had just happened. He had been going to kiss her and was interrupted. His face was neutral, giving nothing away, but his body language was tense and his arm around her was stiff. Was he suddenly rethinking everything?
"We should go." Callen said stiffly as he drew his arm back from around her shoulders.
"Um, sure." Nell responded and got to her feet, feeling confused. As Callen rose beside her, he was kicking himself. He had his moment. He could have just kissed her but that damn message came in and he stopped to look at it. Looking over at Nell, now she looked nervous and tense. Had he entirely misjudged everything about what was going on between them? If his cell hadn't gone off, would she have rejected him?
They made their way back towards camp in silence, walking side by side but with more distance between them than they had had in days.
Xxx
Kensi was sitting by the fire pit when she spotted Callen and Nell coming up from the lake. As she watched them her brow furrowed and her lips pursed together. Recently they had been draped all over each other but now, they were walking a foot apart, like two strangers. She wondered immediately what had happened. When she had last seen them, Nell was curled up with him asleep at the edge of the lake and they had only been alone for half an hour. What had happened in that half hour to create the change?
"Hey Nell, give me a hand?" she called over as she rose to her feet and walked towards the younger woman. Nell looked relieved to be able to get away from Callen and that had Kensi nervous.
"Hey Kensi." Nell greeted her as the two women moved away from the fire pit and over towards their tent.
"Nell, what's going on?" Kensi asked, her voice full of concern. Nell glanced over at Callen, who was talking with Sam.
"I don't know." Nell shook her head. "Everything was going great and then…"
"Then what? What happened?"
"He was going to kiss me." Nell almost whispered. "But then Sam texted and he couldn't get away from me fast enough." Nell still couldn't understand the change in Callen and her eyes drifted back over to him. Kensi followed her gaze and watched him for a moment, then turned back to Nell.
"Don't worry Nell, I'm sure it's nothing." She tried to sound reassuring but the younger woman looked concerned.
"I don't know, I think maybe he realised what he was doing and changed his mind."
"I'm sure that's not it." Kensi shook her head.
"What else could it be?" Nell asked, frustrated.
"With Callen, it could be anything. He's not exactly an open book." Kensi shrugged. "Look, just relax. You need to take control here." He placed a hand on Nell's shoulder. "Let him know you're still interested."
"What's the point." Nell sighed.
"The point is he's crazy about you." Kensi said firmly. "Nell, I wasn't going to say anything but I've known for weeks that he likes you." Nell threw her a questioning look. "I don't want to bring up bad memories, but when we first found out about Shaun Stevens, I saw Callen change. He was worried about you, more than I've ever seen him worry about anyone. And when Callen found out from Eric that Hector Valdez was still alive and going after you, he went postal on Shaun Stevens. I've known Callen a long time and he has never reacted like that, not even when Dom was missing." Kensi paused, her own bad memories resurfacing. "Sam had to pull him back." Nell's eyes widened as Kensi revealed something she didn't know.
"Postal?" Nell asked, her voice wavering a little.
"Pinned him to the wall and was choking the life out of him." Kensi confirmed. "And do you really think Callen stays with any of us when we've been in danger?" she asked, a smile tugging at her lips. "Trust me, that man…" she glanced over at Callen. "…is so into you. But you might need to give him a push in the right direction."
"Maybe you're right." Nell nodded.
"Don't give up on him Nell. He's been alone almost his whole life and his most meaningful relationships have been when he was working undercover. Being with someone who knows him for who he really is new to him and he's probably worried he's going to mess things up."
"He's not the only one Kensi." Nell admitted.
The two women turned and made their way back over to the fire pit where the others were already sitting down tucking into the fish that Eric and Deeks had caught. Kensi dropped down beside Deeks and took the plate he offered. Nell took a second then with a deep breath, she stepped right past everyone and sat down next to Callen, throwing him a warm smile. She hoped it would show him she wasn't backing away and she was heartened when he smiled back at her.
"So what are we going to do this afternoon?" Nell asked.
"I need to do something active." Kensi grinned. "There was too much sitting around this morning."
"What about a game of flag football?" Sam suggested.
Xxx
An hour later the six campers had found a large open patch of grass near their campsite and Sam had retrieved an old football he kept in the trunk of his car. Deeks had insisted they picked all new teams and now Callen found himself with Deeks and Eric, while Sam had Kensi and Nell. He was a disappointed that Nell was not on his team. After the hiccup at the lake earlier, he had been hoping for an opportunity to get back to where they were, but being on opposite teams was not going to afford him that chance.
"Um, we don't actually have any flags, so how does this work?" Eric asked, scratching his head.
"Instead of grabbing a flag off a player, you just tag them." Sam explained.
"And no-one is going to tackle me?" Nell asked nervously.
"No." Callen assured her as he stepped over and rested his hand on her shoulder. "It's a non-contact sport."
"Good, because you guys are pretty good at doing that and I don't think I'd fare so well." She smiled.
"We ready?" Deeks asked impatiently.
"Ready." Sam clapped his hands together.
And with that, the two teams squared off. Deeks hiked the ball back to Callen who took off running but was quickly tagged by Sam. They reset and for the next thirty minutes there was a lot of laughter as the ball flew back and forth between players and both teams scored several touch-downs. But soon Callen's team scored again putting them ahead.
"Sorry guys." Nell apologised to Kensi and Sam. "I may be able to throw a basketball but clearly football isn't my thing."
"Don't worry Nell. I have a plan." Kensi winked and explained to Sam and Nell what her idea was. Sam looked dubious but he shrugged and agreed to go along with it. "Come on, let's go." She clapped her hands and the teams lined up for another play.
Callen hiked the ball and passed it back to Deeks. As he began running towards the end zone, Kensi ran straight at him but instead of tagging him, she threw her whole weight at him and took him down in a tackle.
"What the hell!" Deeks exclaimed as he found himself flat on his back with his partner on top of him. "Non-contact sport Kensi." He moaned as she rolled off him and stood up. "And that was very much contact." He sat up and rubbed his lower back.
"You can take it." She laughed.
"I call foul." Callen stated, pointing at Kensi.
"It was an accident." Kensi replied sweetly.
"Accident my ass." Deeks muttered as he got to his feet. "You're going down Blye." He warned.
"Bring it on Marty!" she called back as she re-joined her team.
"Kensi." Sam drew her and Nell into a huddle. "Deeks is going to be gunning for you now."
"Exactly, so we use that to our advantage and get the ball to Nell." She winked.
"Me?" Nell looked sceptical.
"Callen and Deeks will be focused on me and Kensi, they won't be expecting it." Sam explained.
"But…"
"It'll be fine Nell. Just catch the ball and run." Sam smiled.
"Okay, but I don't think this is going to work." She shook her head, getting a bad feeling about this play.
It started without a hitch. Deeks and Callen appeared to be focused on Kensi and Sam while Eric stayed close to Nell. As Sam passed the ball to Kensi, she made like she was going to run, then suddenly tossed it over to Nell. Surprised that she had actually caught it, Nell took off down the field. Deeks blocked Kensi as Eric darted in front of Sam. Callen, being the faster runner, began to chase after Nell, quickly gaining ground. Kensi and Sam both realised that the others had predicted their plan and this was their counter play.
Totally unaware of what was happening behind her, Nell ran towards the end zone. But suddenly with only a few feet to go, she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and lift her clean off her feet. She shrieked and dropped the ball in surprise as she was spun around. And then just as suddenly she was back on solid ground, the arms around her loosening but remaining at her waist.
"I thought this was a non-contact sport?" she asked as she spun around to face Callen, her hands coming to a rest on his chest.
"It was, until Kensi tackled Deeks." Callen laughed.
The game descended into chaos after that. Kensi and Deeks used every opportunity to tackle each other, Eric had grown bored because neither Kensi nor Deeks would throw him the ball and Sam was frustrated because Callen was spending more time flirting with Nell than playing the game.
"Okay, that's it." He shouted out. "Game over."
"What? Why?" Deeks threw his arms out and protested.
"Come on, it's not like we're actually playing anymore." Sam sighed.
"Who won?" Kensi asked suddenly. In all the chaos she had lost track of who had scored what.
"I don't know." Deeks shook his head. "Wasn't someone keeping score?"
"Nell, you usually remember these things?" Kensi asked.
"Last I remember, we were even." She smiled then looked over at Callen. "I got distracted."
"Well let's just call it a tie and be done." Sam shook his head.
"It is getting late." Callen glanced at his watch. "What are we doing for dinner?"
"We could go in to town? We passed a nice place on the way up here." Nell suggested. "I don't mind driving."
"What do you think?" Callen asked the others. They all nodded in agreement. "Okay, I guess we should go clean up. Deeks, you got a little dirt…well everywhere." He laughed as Deeks tugged at his t-shirt and jeans, looking at all the stains caused from his numerous falls into the ground.
"You sure you don't mind driving Nell?" Callen asked, falling into step beside her as they made their way back to camp.
"My liver needs a break after last night." She smiled.
"You did hit the bottle pretty hard." Callen laughed as he slipped his arm loosely around her shoulder.
"And you let me." She countered.
"Deeks said it would happen." Callen shook his head.
"What?"
"You and Kensi blaming us for your hangovers." He chuckled.
"You sat there and let us drink half a bottle of tequila." Nell raised her eyebrows, her lips forming a pout.
"But you had a good time."
"I did." Nell smiled and leaned into him. "But I can have just as good a time tonight, without drinking."
Sorry, I had to throw a little spanner in the works – it can't all come easy. Oh, and apologies for the terrible football scene – I know next to nothing about American football so was kinda flying by the seat of my pants on that one.