Chapter 29.

Author's Note- Okay, finally time to get back to AJ and Callen. Hope you guys like this chapter, let me know what you think!

AJ.

*Ring Ring*

The sound of my phone ringing wakes me up.

"Hullo?" I say sleepily, refusing to waste precious time glancing at the caller ID.

"Did I wake you?" Ryan's voice asks through the phone.

"No, genius. This is just how I talk now." I say sarcastically. "What do you want?"

"Someone's grumpy this morning." He says."I just want to let you know that I got a huge job designing a new building in the city."

"That's great, Ry. But did you have to call me this early?" I say.

"Early? AJ, its midday." He says, prompting me to look at the clock situated on my bedside table. Shit. I never sleep this late. "Something kept you up last night. You okay?"

"I'm fine, Ry. I gotta go. Call you later." I hang up the phone.

I surely couldn't have slept 'til midday?

The sunlight splitting through the curtains blind me when I sit up, causing a dizzy spell and a massive headache. I respond by lying back down.

Thinking back to last nights' events, I think, how much did I drink last night?

Flashback to last night.

His hands are warm on my face, his lips soft on mine. The kiss lasts for less than a minute, breaking apart when I decide to say, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that, um, I should, uh, go." I finish, stepping into the cab.

I try to shut the door, but his foot stops it. "No. You should have done that." He says, pulling himself into the cab, and kissing me this time. Damn, he's a good kisser.

The kiss becomes deeper, more passionate, and lasts longer this time, until I pull away again, and say my address, keeping eye contact with him and smiling all the time. The cabbie pulls away from the curb, and Callen shuts the car door behind him.

The cab ride back to my place is a journey well spent. The cab stops in front of my apartment, I hand the driver a twenty dollar bill, and get out of the car, Special Agent G. Callen following closely behind. My hands search my purse for my house keys, while his hand is placed behind my back, carefully guiding me to my front door as my eyes squint in the darkness, trying to find the right key. It takes a minute or two, but nevertheless I still manage to get into my place.

As soon as the door shuts behind me, my purse and jacket, which I shed in the car, are on the back of the couch, and G. Callen and I are clumsily making our way to the bedroom.

He sheds his jacket, I slip off my heels. He spins me towards the bed, and I follow his lead, unbuttoning his shirt as I do so.

My mind is reeling, leaving me no room to think about the consequences of what I'm about to do. All I want is him. All I need is him.

Present.

So that's what happened. Oh.

I smile at the thought of last night. My hand falls onto my head, and I think, did I really just sleep with G. Callen?

I turn to look at the other side of my bed. Empty. Of course. I never would have pegged him for the late-sleeper type. A quick scan of my surroundings confirm that he's not here. Nice going, AJ. Sleep with a guy who can't face what he did. Well, he's going to have to, sooner or later. At least it'll give me time to think of what I'm going to say to him.

On that thought, I decide to get up and shower. Go for a swim, maybe, or a run. Keep your mind off of him.

Ten minutes later, I'm out the door, with my swimsuit on and towel under my arm. I make my way to the beach, a quarter of a mile from my building. The sun is shining, and the sky is cloudless. I take my usual spot on the beach, nestled between a gap in the rocks at the end of the beach. I take off my tank top and shorts, pull my hair back into a messy bun and cleverly hide my clothes and bag in a corner of my hiding place. Making my way down to the crystal blue waters, I let the warm water cover my skin, and because the beach is busy, and its LA, no sooner have I entered the water when some guy approaches me.

"Hi." He says.

"Hi." I say, giving him no more than a quick glance.

"You come here often? 'Cos I've seen you around here before, a few times."

"Yeah, I come here sometimes." I reply.

"Listen, I don't mean to sound eager or anything, but would you like to, maybe get coffee with me sometime?" He asks innocently.

I sigh. Of course, AJ. If you come down to the beach, wearing any type of revealing swimsuit, let alone a black bikini, you are going to get hit on. "Look, you seem really nice and all, but I would just rather be alone right now. Maybe some other time."

He nods, and I look at him walk slowly away, seeing his shoulders hang slightly.

Dammit, G. Why did you have to be so amazing and make me fall for you?

As I set off on my swim down the beach, I keep repeating to myself, don't think of him, don't think of him, but I can't help it.

When I exit the beach a few hours later, he is still all I can think of. You went swimming so that you could get him off your mind, not make yourself fall in love with him more, even when he left you without so much as a 'goodbye' or 'I'm sorry'.

I check my phone when I get back home. 3pm. 6 new messages. One from Ryan, two from Lucy, undoubtedly sending me a link to one of those funny cat videos again, and three saying that I had new voicemails.

I type in my voicemail passcode, and the first message plays.

"Hey AJ, it's Nell. Call me back when you get this." I make a note to call her back, otherwise I'll forget it.

"Message 2." The automated voice announces.

"Hey, it's Danny. Just checkin' in. Call me." My brothers' voice sounds. I again tell myself to remember to call him back.

"Message 3."

My heart stops when I hear the voice on the other end. "Hey, um, its Callen. Listen, I'm sorry I ran out on you this morning. I didn't want to, believe me." He sighs. "If you want, we can meet up later, or something. Uh, call me, I guess. Bye." The message is time-stamped 12:37. Minutes after I left the house.

I'm debating whether to call him back or not. I agreed to call Danny and Nell back first, and then make my decision.

I first dial my brother's number. I get his machine.

"I can't come to the phone right now, but leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." *Beep*

When the tone sounds, I say, "Hey, Danny, it's me. I got your message. This is me getting back to you. Call me when you can. Bye." *click*

I dial Nell's number.

"Hey, AJ." She says.

"Hey, Nell. You called me earlier." I reply.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you could maybe help me and Eric out tomorrow. I'm moving in with him." She says happily.

"You two are moving in together?" I ask for confirmation. "That's so great, Nell. Congratulations."

"Thanks. So will you help out?" She asks.

"Of course! What time?"

"Ten, if that's okay?"

"Ten is great. Text me the address." I say.

"I will. Thanks, AJ. Bye." She says, before I hang up.

Okay, AJ. Call him. But what if he doesn't answer? What if I don't like what I hear?

It doesn't matter what you like. You should call him. Call him.

Okay, what would Lucy do? I've always admired how Lucy handled situations, most of the time she handled them better than I did. I guess that's why she got offered that job in Hostage Rescue. Lucy wouldn't chicken out. She'd call him. Give him a piece of her mind. But I'm not that kind of person. I wouldn't yell or scream at him, or get angry, even when I had every right to. I'd act rationally. An idea pops into my head. So text him. That way, you won't break down when you hear his voice, you can still tell him what you're feeling. It's perfect.

I pull out my cell and bring up the 'compose message' feature. I type Callen's number into the 'to' bar, and type a simple message.

Meet me outside the Santa Monica Aquarium at six.

As I press send, I wonder if that was the right call. No use now, you have to be there.

I have 3 hours until I have to meet him. I quickly shower, get re-dressed in jeans and a black tank top, and decide to make a call.

"Hey, AJ. How are you? It was only you and Super-Secret Agent Man left after I went home last night. You're welcome, by the way-"

"Lucy. Come over here and we'll talk all about it." I interrupt.

"'Here' as in your place?" She asks.

"No, 'here' as in Timbuktu." I sigh."Yes, my place."

"I'll be there in ten." She says, hanging up.

"You slept with him?" She exclaims when I break the news. "Good for you!"

"No, Luce, it is not 'good for me'. He walked out on me this morning without even saying goodbye!"

"Oh. Honey, I'm sorry. I know you like him."

"I do, Luce, that's the thing. After I came back from my swim, he'd left a message on my machine telling me that he didn't want to leave. So, I texted him, and told him to meet me at the aquarium at six."

"You did, huh?" She asks, raising her eyebrow. "You sure that was a good idea?"

"Yes. I really like him, and even if there is the slightest chance that he was sincere in that message, I'm going to take it."

"Okay. You want me to come with you, for moral support?"

"No, because the last time you came with me for 'moral support' the guy ended up with a broken nose."

"You're right. Just, call me afterwards, yeah?"

"You know I will."

I gave you an extra long chapter because I couldn't stop writing. Hope you liked it! Please leave a review!