You all make me smile – I am blown away that so many people are reading and following what started out as a little blip in my head. Thank you for the reviews and encouragement to keep going. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: At the Heart of It

Deeks felt much better after his conversation with Sam. He knew they wouldn't be best friends, but he was more confident that Sam would treat him as an equal on the team now. After leaving the hospital, Kensi drove to her place to pick up some things she'd need while staying at Deek's place. Next, they went to a grocery store to buy eggs, jello, bananas, soup in a can, and ice cream – the only soft foods Kensi knew how to cook without destroying. As soon as Deeks opened his apartment door, Monty was there to enthusiastically greet his owner. "Whoa, boy! I'm happy to see you, too, but Daddy has a few sore spots. You're going to have to go easy on me for a while," Deeks said to his dog. "But Kensi here loves doggie kisses! Go get her Monty!" Monty was only too happy to share his affections with her, licking her cheeks and wagging his tail at the same time when she bent down to greet Deeks' furry companion.

Kensi helped Deeks get settled on the couch, and got him a pain pill and a glass of water. "I don't need that. I'm fine," he protested. He really didn't want to have to rely on medication.

"Deeks, if you don't take it now, in about 2 hours you are going to be feeling worse and I really don't want to put up with whiny Deeks. It's just one pill, and it's a very low dose – just enough to take the edge off," Kensi explained. He obeyed grudgingly. "Only Deeks can make a man-pout look adorable," Kensi thought to herself. She handed him the remote, then proceeded to the bedroom to put away his bag and her things. "I'm going to take a shower. See if you can stay out of trouble for a few minutes, ok? Just relax," Kensi instructed before disappearing behind the closed door. About ten minutes later she walked out dressed in yoga pants and a t-shirt. "It's amazing how much better clean feels," Kensi noted. "It's amazing how good she makes a plain t-shirt look," Deeks thought to himself.

From his half-seated, half-laid back position on the couch, he mused out loud, "I wouldn't know. It's been a long, dirty two days, and I'm still waiting on my sponge bath Kensalina." Deeks raised his eyebrows and flashed a trademark Marty Deeks smile her way. She sat down on the couch next to him and gently play-punched his shoulder, just for effect. "Ow. How about you kiss it and make it better now?" Deeks asked her. She shook her head; same old Deeks. "Speaking of kisses…" he continued hesitantly, "can we, uh, can we talk about us now?" He knew not to push her too much, but he didn't want to wait much longer to have this needed conversation.

"Alright, but before we start, can I ask you a question?" Kensi quietly inquired.

"Kens, you're doing it again. Answering my question with a question. Can't we just talk, in sentences? You say something that ends with a period, then I say something back that ends with a period, repeat as often as necessary. That's how it works with most conversations," Deeks said, slightly frustrated that they were back to their old habits already.

"I promise I will talk in sentences, Deeks, but I need to ask you a question first so I know how to proceed with the content of my sentences," Kensi explained, rolling her eyes slightly.

He thought about it for a minute. "OK, ask away."

Kensi slowly asked him if he had ever opened the box. Deeks wondered if he had heard her correctly. "The box? Really? Where did that topic come from?" he thought. "No, I left it at work on the shelf. I figured someday I'd get back to it and actually open it, but it didn't seem like there was a rush. Why?" he asked curiously as she set that very box down on his coffee table. He hadn't noticed it sitting on the floor by the door earlier.

"I think you should open it today. It might answer some of the questions you have – you know I'm not good with this whole talking-about-feelings thing," Kensi continued. "Actually, it might have saved us a couple weeks of grief and misunderstandings and frustrations if you had opened it when I gave it to you," she thought to herself, "but later is better than never."

Deeks smiled. He sat up slowly, taking care with his ribs, and took the knife Kensi offered him. He held it up as if he was going to slice through the tape that held the contents captive. Then he paused. "Or, I could wait and we could just talk, with you know... words. Like actual, normal human communication. No boxes or knives or anything… "

"You're really not going to make this easy for me, are you? Just please open the box already, and then we will talk about what's inside," Kensi almost pleaded. She had promised him that she would talk with him about all this, and that she wasn't going to run, but it still didn't make it any less nerve-wracking.

"Well, since you asked so nicely…" Deeks sliced through the tape, pulled the cardboard flaps open, and peered inside. He looked back up at Kensi before reaching down. There in the bottom, on top of some crumpled tissue paper, was a single piece of paper. It was colored red, and cut into a heart shape. There was one word written across the center of the heart, "Kensi's." Carefully he lifted it out of the box and held it in his hands as if it was the most fragile thing. No words were said in that moment – Deeks just slowly nodded and gazed into the deep brown and hazel eyes he dreamed of most nights. After a while, Kensi took a deep breath and started to speak.

"I-I told you that I wanted to give you the one thing you wanted more than anything else. Originally this was going to be your birthday present. I hope I got it right… I'm giving you my heart. I'm ready to trust you with everything, including my heart. That is, if that's what you want." Kensi's heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she waited for his reply, all the courage and nerves she had summoned up to even have this conversation were threatening to betray her now.

A slow smile spread across Deeks' face until his blue eyes sparkled like the morning surf. "You really do know me. You got this exactly right. This is what I've wanted more than anything in the world. YOU are all I've ever wanted. Thank you for trusting me with this, with you, Kens."

He scooted a little closer to her, placed one hand on her cheek and drew her into a kiss. Kensi let herself be completely enveloped by it this time; no surprise or shock. It was beautiful: physically gentle enough so as not to hurt Deeks' mouth, but full of emotion and passion so that neither of them could mistake it for a small "thank you" kiss. After a few moments, they pulled apart to breathe. "God she looks beautiful when she stepped out from behind those walls," Deeks thought.

"So does this mean we're really going forward with our thing? Are you ok with there being an us, Kens? Cause I don't want to push you if you're not totally ready, but I can't back up from where we are now," Deeks said. "I want to be able to take you out on dates, I want to be able to hold your hand – even when Sam and Callen are around, I want to kiss you when you wake up and just before you fall asleep, and I want to be able to do all those cheesy little romantic things that a guy does for his girlfriend."

A smile started to spread across her face. "Girlfriend? I think I like the sound of that. But please go easy on the cheese at work, ok?"

"Yeah, ok. I have a couple weeks before I can go back to work, so I'll get the cheese out of my system now." He paused before continuing. "You know, you're not that bad at the whole talking thing. I think there is hope yet for your communication skills, Fern," Deeks added with a goofy grin. Kensi placed her hands tenderly on his face and drew him in for another kiss. "I think I prefer your other style of communication better," she mumbled against his lips.

Another piece of the puzzle was firmly in place.

A/N: so this chapter turned out a little fluffier than I originally intended, but I guess a little fluff never hurt anyone, right? Thanks for reading and following and awesome reviews! One more chapter to go…