Author's Note: Thank you for reading. Enjoy.
March 1st Lyrics
Sometimes I wish that
I could freeze the picture
And save it from
The funny tricks of time
- Slipping Through My Fingers, ABBA
As he opened the refrigerator, Callen sighed in relief that the case was over. For once, glad that he was home; away from the matchmaking eyes of Sam, all knowing of Hetty, worrying of Kensi, understanding of Eric, and inquisitive of Deeks. He twisted the cap off the longneck light beer and took a quick swig as he mulled over the one person missing from his musings. Nell Jones' hazel eyes had once looked at him in admiration, hero worship. It had amused him when she temporarily took over whistle duty, frequently interrupted Hetty, and always finished Eric's sentences. She had intrigued him when she had interrupted him, started finishing his sentences; yet sometime over the past two years, something he was uncertain about, had happened between them, because gradually she had stopped, and the look of admiration had turned to respect, and the hero worship had turned into indifference. The respect he could handle, but the indifference royally pissed him off; mostly, the anger came from not knowing why.
Why had her eyes stopped twinkling when she spoke to him? Why had her tilt of a smile become so rare for him, yet everyone else received at least one daily? What had he said, done to her? If it were any other woman, he would not care, but this was Nell. As he pondered why it mattered that it was Nell, he paused in front of the fireplace before he placed the beer on the mantle deciding that he had had enough alcohol. He had more than half left of the first beer, yet felt that his thoughts were going in a direction that they really should not, and alcohol would stir the direction to somewhere where they really could not go.
He cared about her in a way that he did not care about the rest of the team. He was half in love with her, but did not want to admit it, because that would be admitting defeat as nothing could ever come of it. He had once thought that something could work between them, but that was before the twinkle left her eye, before she had started to ignore him, unless it had something directly to do with the case. He was not a wishing sort of man, preferring action instead, but he wished that things could go back to how things were, before she had lost that twinkle, lost her admiration.
Unfortunately, for Callen, he did not know that what had caused her to lose the twinkle in her eye was that she had finally admitted to herself that she was in love him. Unfortunately, for Nell, she did not know that he was half way in love with her, and if given the chance, he would fall the rest of the way.
Time was fickle, their love was not; one day their misunderstanding, miscommunication would be cleared, but until then they each would wish for a time where they could love each other freely.