"Kens – how's the ankle?"

Kensi rolled her eyes at the text that came through on her phone. If she had a dollar for every time Deeks asked her that over the last few weeks…

She texted back: "Fine. I should be okay to drive if you're after company."

"Doc said you need to rest it. No driving. I'm coming over."

"Bring me dinner."

…

"Deeks, I can get my own painkillers."

"Or," Deeks yelled from her kitchen, "I could get them for you." He re-entered the room with two tablets and a glass of water in hand.

She took them and popped both in her mouth at once, swallowing them together. She then took another bite of her burger. "It doesn't hurt that badly."

"Of course it doesn't." Deeks took a seat on the other end of the couch and watched her scoff down her burger. His Kensi was one classy woman.

"You're staring at me," she tried to say with her mouth full of burger.

Deeks considered denying it. But any way he tried to deny it would come off defensive. And there was something that needed to be said here, so he decided now was the best time to come out with it. "Are we ever going to talk about today?"

Kensi finished chewing and swallowed her bite slowly. "Um. Yeah. We can…we can talk."

"Good." Deeks took a deep breath in and let it out several seconds later, suddenly unwilling to look Kensi in the eye.

Now what?

Kensi laughed and reached for the remote, flicking on the television. "Good talk, Deeks."

"No." He snatched the remote off her and turned the TV off again. "I'm serious. I let you off the hook last time, after our last...incident of this nature. But I'd like to talk."

"Okay." She nodded for him to go ahead but, once again, no words came.

Deeks hated that he could run his mouth off all day until a point came when he actually had something important to say, and then he had no words.

Silence engulfed the room for a good minute, until Deeks finally gave in and flicked the TV back on. "You're right, this was a bad idea."

Kensi snickered and took another bite of her burger.

It took Deeks a few minutes to realize he actually had no idea what on earth they were watching. He had something else entirely on his mind. Something he wasn't quite ready to name or talk about. So he forced himself to focus. An advertisement for an energy drink. Not too riveting, if he was being honest. It was blue. Surely a blue drink could not be good for anyone, right? And the amount of sugar it would take to—

"Is it bad if I say I was glad you kissed me today?"

Deeks blinked and turned to Kensi, eyes wide. "What?"

Surely he hadn't heard that correctly.

"Never mind." Kensi averted her eyes to the TV.

"No, hang on. What did—"

"I mean it's okay, right? We're partners. We're…close."

Deeks turned the TV off once again and angled his body to face Kensi. "You, uh... You wanted me to kiss you?"

She nodded slowly.

"Oh." He blinked and looked down at his lap, then back at her. "That's uh… That's—that's good to know. I can do it more often if you li—"

"Deeks."

"Sorry."

Kensi smiled and released a breathy laugh.

"If it helps, I wanted to kiss you today," Deeks ventured.

Her smile widened considerably at his words. It was a reaction he wasn't used to. Normally Kensi would opt for hitting him. Or rolling her eyes. Or completely ignoring him. But smiling at him? When he was talking about kissing her? That was foreign.

"I think I was jealous of Sandy."

Deeks felt his jaw drop at her revelation. "Well, you're just full of surprises tonight, aren't you?"

Kensi shrugged. "She was just so blatantly all over you. And not in a partnerly kind of way."

"Partnerly?"

"Yes. We're partnerly, you and me. She was just…over the top."

Deeks nodded, suddenly very unsure where this was going. He never could tell with Kensi Blye.

She continued, "but we're not just partners, right?"

Wow. Did she really just ask that?

"How many pain killers did I give you?"

"I'm not high, Deeks."

He chuckled. "I know. And no, we're not just partners."

"Good." Kensi nodded, seemingly satisfied. And Deeks thought that was all she was going to say. Until, "so what are we?"

And this time, Deeks nearly fell off his seat. She was on fire tonight. Asking all kinds of questions that would usually remain entirely unspoken. Where was all this coming from?

Answer the question, Deeks.

What's the answer again?

"What do you mean, Kens?"

She raised her eyebrows. "You know what I mean, Deeks."

"No." He dared to place a hand lightly on her knee. "No, see I need you to tell me what you mean. 'Cause it seems like an important question and I don't want to answer it wrong. Or maybe it's not an important question and I'm completely misreading you in which case any answer I give could be totally awkward."

"I think you're over thinking it."

"What are we?" Deeks clarified her earlier question.

"Yes. What are we?"

"Um." Deeks looked in every direction but that one in which Kensi sat, until he forced himself to hold eye contact with her. He took a deep breath. "We're talking about our thing, right?"

She nodded with a ridiculously cute and slightly nervous smile.

"Okay, uh…see… Kens. Kensi. Fern. Sugar bear." He searched for the words that wouldn't get her upset at him. "I've um, imagined us having this conversation like a million different ways. And I don't want to look back on this moment and tell the grandchildren how we first discussed our feelings while sitting on your couch with your mouth full of cheeseburger."

She looked down at the cheeseburger in her hand and reached over, setting it down on the coffee table. "Okay."

Deeks was trying really hard to read her expression, but it was near impossible. At least at this point, he didn't think she was mad. Yet.

"Can I take you out tomorrow night maybe?"

"Are you asking me out on a date, Detective Deeks?"

"If that's okay with you, Agent Blye."

She shrugged, but her smile contradicted her nonchalant response. "That'd be okay, I guess."

Deeks grinned and turned his eyes back to the television. "I just got a date with Kensi Blye."

Kensi picked a cushion off the floor and shoved it at Deeks. He caught it as it bounced off his chest and tucked it behind him, unable to wipe the grin off his face.

Now the challenge was – spending the next few hours here and not thinking about the conversation they'd just had. Deeks had meant what he'd said. He had run through this scenario in his head a lot more than he'd care to admit. And he had a feeling he'd remember it for a long time. Kensi deserved that it be special.

If they both ended up confessing their undying love for one another – that'd be good. That'd work for him. And then they could spend the rest of their happily ever after remembering the wonderful date he took her on when that happened.

If she decided they were just partners who cared deeply about each other – well then he'd have some convincing to do. And this date would be the first step.

At least half an hour had passed since their conversation, and the air had become somewhat comfortable again. Deeks looked over at Kensi who was laughing at some mistake the host of whatever they were watching had made. Deeks realized he still had no idea what they were watching. Some singing show, maybe?

But then he had an idea.

…

Kensi wondered if Deeks had any idea what they were watching. She could tell by his body language that his focus was definitely on her and not on the TV. Not that she was complaining.

She could feel Deeks moving next to her, and she looked over at him. He was moving closer to her. Subtly, but surely. He was at least a few inches closer now than what he had been.

And then he yawned. A big yawn. Almost exaggerated. At first she frowned as she thought he might be tired enough to leave soon. But then he lifted his arms, accompanying his yawn with a stretch.

Kensi couldn't withhold a small smile as Deeks' right arm landed on the back of the couch, just behind her shoulders. And there it stayed for several minutes.

…

Deeks saw her smile when he pulled the old 'yawn and stretch'. She knew what he was up to. And she didn't seem to mind. So ever so slowly, he began to lower his arm towards her shoulders, all the while keeping his eyes on the screen.

When his arm made contact with her shoulders, he waited there for at least a minute before he sidled closer, letting his right hand drop so his fingers were now gently touching her right arm.

Nice move, Deeks. Very nice.

…

He was being so gentle. Moving slowly and almost subtly. It was cute. It was so very Deeks. But Kensi knew she could go one better.

Without a word and without warning, she shuffled about a foot to the left and leaned her head against Deeks chest, wrapping one arm around his waist.

His arm tightened around her, and when she felt his lips pressed briefly against her hair, she knew she'd made the right move.

…

It had taken Deeks four tries before he reluctantly got up off the couch and walked over to the door. "I'll see you in the morning?"

Kensi reached for her crutches and hoisted herself off the couch with them, then joined him at the door. "Bright and early."

The smile on her lips was almost irresistible, and he had to force himself to open the door to leave.

"Sleep well, Deeks."

He turned back to her and took a brief moment to appreciate her. She was dressed in blue jeans and a light yellow t-shirt. Her hair fell in curls around her smiling face.

Deeks didn't even try to stop the appreciative smile that crossed his lips. Without a second thought, he leaned down and kissed her forehead lightly. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

And with that, he left, closing the door behind him, unable to wipe the stupid grin off his face even if his life depended on it.

Yep. Marty Deeks was one lucky man.

A/N: Hi! Yeah, I know, I know, I said this'd be the last chapter. But clearly it's not... so stay tuned! Anyway, thanks again for reading. I hope you liked this. A Kensi and Deeks who actually talk about their feelings is very hard to write! I hope I was able to keep them in character. Let me know what you think :)