Hey guys! So I just want to start by saying that I am completely blown away by the feedback that this story has already!

Believe me, the feedback absolutely makes my day =)

So a big THANK YOU to everyone! Whether you read Communication Skills or not, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Sorry that this was a little later of an update than I expected, but first week of school and it's already insanely busy! thank you for being so patient!

I don't own NCIS LA.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Back on the Job

The weight of a million nervous butterflies sat in Kensi's stomach the entire drive to OSP Monday morning. This was her first day going into since she and Deeks had declared themselves a couple and she was filled with warmth at the thought of seeing Deeks, and covered in goose-bumps at the thought of seeing Deeks in front of the rest of the team. She kept thinking about how, within minutes, she would get to see Deeks; get to see his smile, hear his jokes, and smell the ocean when she stood next to him in OPS. She was excited to see him. Even though she had spent the whole weekend with him, only going home as late as she possibly could, eight hours—most of which was spent sleeping—had felt like a very long time without him.

But she also kept thinking how difficult it would be to see him at work and interact with him like nothing had happened between them. Waiting to let their friends figure out their relationship status would give her and Deeks some time to fall into the familiar rhythm of being a couple, but she didn't anticipate that she would already feel this nervous about being back at work. Part of her wanted to just come out and say that they were together, but part of her—the part of her that had been abandoned by Jack—wanted to nothing more than to lock her words away and throw away the key.

In two days, she had already become more comfortable being with Deeks intimately. But she knew—and she was pretty sure that he knew, too—that she still hadn't opened herself up fully to him. Well, physically, she had. But trying to let him see the pure, raw emotion she felt when she was around him, that was harder to show, harder to take down those walls. And she knew it was because of Jack. Jack had been the last person she had had a serious relationship with. Serious enough to accept his engagement. And then he had gone and crushed her heart into tiny, nearly unrecognizable pieces that threatened to never fit together again.

That is, until Deeks came along.

Deeks sewed her up, glued the pieces of her heart back into place. And he pushed her to open up, always pushed her. Pushed her with that infuriatingly adorable crooked grin of his till she snapped under the pressure of his charm and never-ending jokes. The past two days though, he'd hardly pushed her at all. He let her take baby-steps with their new relationship; which Kensi would be eternally grateful for. It was just what she needed from him, right now, for him to let her go her own pace. That was just how well he knew her. The thought made her smile.

Before she knew it, Kensi had pulled up outside the mission. She parked her car and unbuckled, taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart. She saw Sam's car parked a few spaces away—no surprise there from Mr. Always-Five-Minutes-Early. Eric and Nell's cars were there, too. She didn't see Callen's car—which meant Sam probably picked him up—and she didn't see Deeks' car, which made her breathe a sigh of relief. It would give her a minute to prepare herself before she saw him. Grabbing her bag, Kensi headed inside.

The familiar sight of the bullpen helped calm her down. Callen and Sam were at their desks already. Callen was eating an apple and Sam was busy sorting through a stack of papers on his desk. Kensi greeted them, sitting down in her chair as they greeted her back. Callen, chewing thoughtfully, watched Sam for a moment.

"Are you trying to line up all the corners perfectly?" Callen asked suddenly, raising an eyebrow.

Sam looked up, looking irritated. "No," he muttered.

Callen's eyebrow arched even higher in disbelief.

Sam sighed and went back to putting papers in his outbox, clearly straightening them. "Maybe."

"What's next? Sorting your paper clips from biggest to smallest?" Callen added with a smirk.

Kensi smiled as Sam looked at his partner threateningly.

"Keep it up, G, and they're gonna have to sort you, piece by piece, once I'm done with you." Sam retorted.

Callen looked over at her. "Was that a death threat?"

"I think so," she agreed, smiling.

"What's goin' on guys?" Deeks said, entering the bullpen, causing Kensi's heart to skip a beat or two.

Deeks looked at each of them as he headed over to his seat next to Sam, his eyes lingering on Kensi longest, but not long enough to be out of the ordinary. She had a feeling he was going to be a lot better at controlling his emotions at work than she was.

"Not much," Kensi said in response to Deeks question. "Sam just threatened to chop Callen up into little pieces."

Deeks looked at Callen, then Sam. "Oh, really? Should I be worried? You know, come to think of it, I do feel a little threatened sitting here,"

Deeks was saved from Sam's death glare by Eric's whistle. Deeks jumped up from his seat and went to stand by her desk. It looked casual enough, but when he cast his eyes briefly over to her, she could tell it was because he wanted to be close to her. Callen and Sam got up, almost simultaneously, Callen pausing to toss his apple core into the garbage. As the four of them walked towards OPS, Callen said to Sam:

"You wouldn't really chop me up would you?"

Sam smiled. "Nah. 'Cause then I'd have to suffer through Deeks' Bad Joke Thursdays all by myself."

"Hey," Deeks protested. "You guys love my 'why did the chicken cross the road?' jokes and you know it. You'd be empty without them,"

Kensi smiled as Callen and Sam just scoffed as they made their way up the stairs and stepped into the dim blue light of OPS. As Eric and Nell began to brief them on their latest case, Callen and Sam stood closer to the front of the room, as usual, and Kensi stood next to Deeks against the table in the center of the room. Like magnets, they grew closer and closer each second till they were shoulder to shoulder. Like every other action that morning, it didn't look out of the ordinary. But as Deeks let his hands fall down to his sides, like hers, their hands brushed momentarily, sending little arcs of electricity through her skin, and Kensi knew it was anything but ordinary.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Deeks wished he could've just gone straight home after work. If that had happened, Kensi would've followed him in her car to his apartment, and they would've spent the rest of the evening there, sitting on his couch, watching Top Model with Monty. But instead, they'd had to part ways in the parking lot, lingering longer than usual, and Deeks made his way to the office where his psychologist, Dr. Winters, worked.

Deeks had been seeing Dr. Winters for a month now, after Hetty had recommended her to him. Because Hetty being Hetty, had found another psychologist with security clearance in case one was needed when Nate was gone on his super-secret missions, and Deeks would be forever grateful for that. Dr. Winters had helped a lot. She didn't push. Sure she asked him questions, but she mostly had let him talk about what he was comfortable talking about—which mainly revolved around his teammates and Kensi.

Deeks parked his car and walked the familiar halls up to Dr. Winters' office. She greeted him with a bright smile, her caramel hair twisted up into a bun today.

"It's good to see you, Deeks." Dr. Winters said as they sat down in their respectful places.

"Promised I'd come back, didn't I?" he responded.

She gave a little laugh. "Yes, you did. Speaking of, how did things go with Kensi?"

Deeks couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "Good. Better than good. I told her…what's been goin' on."

"And how did she react?"

Deeks paused, thinking back to the conversation with Kensi. How well she had listened, how comforting she had been. She'd gotten upset when he mentioned the PTSD, but she'd handled it surprisingly well considering he'd expected her to be a lot more upset at it all.

"It went pretty well." he replied finally.

Winters nodded. "That's good. I'm glad. Would I be wrong to assume that things went a little farther than your conversation?"

Deeks scratched at his beard, ducking his head a little. "No, you wouldn't."

She chuckled. "I thought so. Anyway, I won't press, so how have the nightmares been? Any flashbacks?"

"No flashbacks," he said immediately, relief coloring his tone, because those flashbacks were awful. "Nightmares last night, but they didn't seem as severe. I think talking to Kensi really helped."

"Glad to hear that. I still think you should come in—let's say, once every week? When are your psych evaluations at work?" she asked, pulling out the clipboard on her table.

"My psych evals are in a month."

"Okay. So, after your evaluations, we'll see where you are and then we'll go from there." Dr. Winters said as she stood and held out a hand.

He stood along with her a shook her hand, glad their meeting had been so short. That meant he could spend more time with Kensi that night.

"Sounds good," he agreed with a smile.

Minutes later, Deeks was back in his car heading home to Kensi. Home.

"Home," he murmured to himself, a small smile gracing his lips.

He wondered when he started associating that word with her. He knew it was true, that she was more of a home to him than his actual home. It was strange to say it aloud. It felt good to say it out loud. Saying it brought him the same sense of security and warmth that he felt whenever he was around her. It made him feel stronger when he was around her, because though Kensi probably wouldn't believe him if he told her this, he needed her just as much as she needed him. That's how partners worked. That's how couples worked. That's how it worked when two people were insanely, unbelievably, uncontrollably in love with each other. And all he wanted to do was stand on the nearest rooftop and shout out to all of Los Angeles that he was in love with Kensi Marie Blye.

Even after just two days of being able to get all his feelings off his chest, that's how he felt about her. Even before they'd decided to take that step into couple-hood. When he was around her, he felt like smiling till his face split in half. Like laughing and making jokes just because it made her laugh. He felt like running and jumping and skipping for joy. He felt like riding the most insane wave, felt like watching Titanic for the billionth time, all for her. He felt like he could do anything, all because he could call her his.

And he knew that as long as that was true, as long as she remained his for the rest of eternity, he would never get the smile off his face. He would die smiling. And if he did spontaneously, mysteriously died tomorrow, he'd be okay with it, because, even if for just a couple days, he had been able to hold her and touch her and caress her and say all the things he wanted to say and she needed to hear, and that was all he needed.

So there it is, chapter 2! Hope you liked it!

So, school just started up for me and it's already been quite busy. I have the whole story planned out, and I will still try to post a chapter every week. If I don't post right away, just know that I'm working on it and will get it to you guys as soon as I possibly can, so just please stick with me, please be patient, and I promise it'll be worth it!

As always, reviews are appreciated, I like to hear your thoughts! They simply make my day!

Thank you for reading!

-DaughterOfPoseidon333