Hello, guys! As always, you guys are so amazing! Thank you so much for all the reviews and follows and whatnot.

Still don't own NCIS LA.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Those Three Words

"Come on, Kens," Deeks pleased, following her into her house. "You have to understand why I did it—"

"Oh, I understand why you did it, Deeks, but it was still a stupid risk." Kensi interrupted him, falling onto her couch, arms crossed stubbornly, as if she was trying to protect her heart from him.

"A stupid risk?" he echoed incredulously. "You had three guys on you, I saved your ass, and you're calling that a stupid risk?"

"I had them," she muttered. God, she was stubborn. He wondered if she got that from her father too.

"Right," he scoffed. "You would've had a couple rounds in your back if I hadn't shot the one, but you had them."

Kensi didn't respond, but simply looked up and glared at him.

"Why can't you just say thank you for saving you?" he asked.

"Because I had them," she repeated through gritted teeth. "I didn't need your help,"

"Right, because you don't ever need anyone's help,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

"It means that you are the most frustrating, stubborn person I have ever met. You never let anyone help you. It always has to be Kensi Blye against the world." He replied, his voice reflecting his frustrations.

"That isn't true,"

"Oh, really? 'Cause I don't know about you, but the way I saw it, you walked right into an ambush, and I was only doing my job by having your back and you can't even admit that you'd probably be dead right now if I hadn't helped you."

Kensi got up from the couch, her jaw set. "I can take care of myself,"

"See, there you go again!" Deeks called after her as she went to grab a beer.

"I would've been fine—"

"No, you wouldn't have—"

"Don't act like you were completely out of danger, Deeks," she snapped.

Deeks paused, his mind flashing back to a couple hours ago. The team had gone to a warehouse, not expecting to get ambushed by a dozen members of a cartel. Kensi had been separated from him, chasing down a runner, only to have two more come at her. She'd shot the runner in the back and proceeded to fight the other two. She had taken them down, only to have one of them rise up behind her, gun in hand. He'd been about to pull the trigger, before Deeks took him out from his position on one of the catwalks.

But Deeks had been in danger too. He'd saved Kensi, only to get punched in the face by a cartel member who had followed him up on the catwalk. He'd lost his gun, and the cartel member had rammed him with his shoulder, toppling Deeks over the edge. He'd grabbed onto the railing, and Kensi returned the favor by shooting the guy, but Deeks was still left hanging, grip slipping a little bit with each passing second. He managed to haul himself up, but he had been close to falling.

Deeks nodded. "I know—"

"You almost died today, Deeks." she stated, though it came out as more of an accusation.

"Well, so did you! I don't know what I—" he shut his mouth, watching as Kensi's eyes widened a little as he ventured close to feelings of the heart.

They'd been together for two months now. They'd slept together many times, they'd gone out, and they'd done couple-y things. But what they hadn't done was ever truly talk about what they felt deep in their hearts when they were together.Deeks hadn't said anything because he knew Kensi was still getting used to being in a serious relationship again. Hell, so was he, but he knew it was different for her.

Kensi sighed, setting her beer down on the counter. "You…you almost died, and I was too far out of reach to help. So, yes, I think what you did was incredibly, ridiculously stupid—"

"I did it for you, Kensi! Don't you get that? I need you—"

"Yeah, well I need you more!" Kensi shouted. Silence filled the room for a moment as Deeks waited for her to vent. "So many people have left me. My dad died—h-he left. And Jack left me. Dom died, and I…I can't lose you, Deeks. I can't. And today…"

She broke off and Deeks' anger faded. He stepped closer to her, putting his hands over her own trembling ones.

"I can't lose you either, Kens." He whispered. "That's why I did what I did today. So maybe it was stupid to go up on the catwalks. I do stupid things. But I do them for you because…"

He trailed off, weighing whether or not he wanted to say it. He thought maybe it was too soon, but then he remembered that he'd felt this way about Kensi for years.

"Because I love you, Kensi." He finished.

Kensi lifted her head slowly; her mismatched eyes wide, mouth open in a small o of surprise.

It felt so good, to get those words off his chest. And no matter how cliché 'those three little words' sometimes were, he didn't care, because saying them made his heart practically sing. So he said them again.

"I love you," he repeated, and the butterflies in his stomach went crazy with happiness.

Nothing could describe the way he felt about her better. In reality, there probably weren't any words to describe how he felt about her. There was no way he could ever perfectly describe how, even if he was having a shitty day, coming into work and seeing her bent over paperwork, hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, eating a powdered donut, was a sure-fire way to make him feel better. No way to describe how good it felt to have her fingers tangle in his hair when he kissed her. No way to describe how incredibly sexy he thought she looked when she was kicking ass, and how even she made those Kevlar vests look good. 'I love you' came pretty damn close to expressing those feelings though.

He kissed her now, pressing his lips down on hers. And, yes, her hands immediately went up to curl in his locks. He pulled her close, arms wrapping around her, molding her body to his. He almost couldn't keep kissing her because he was smiling. So he pulled away, keeping their faces a mere inch apart.

"I love you," he said for the third time.

"You said that already," she teased, smiling back.

"It's true though,"

"I know," she whispered. She leaned up and gave him a soft, incredibly gentle kiss. When she pulled away, she looked right into his eyes. "I love you, too."

She didn't get to say more because his lips came crashing down on hers again. She tasted like beer and Kensi, and he couldn't get enough. He would never get enough. But he could have her right now. He scooped her up and carried her away.

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

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she trailed random patterns on Deeks' bare arm. "About the fight. It was stupid."

He pulled her naked body against his, wrapping the sheets even tighter around them. She gratefully curled against his body.

"I thought I was the stupid one?" he smirked.

"Shut up, I'm trying to apologize," she muttered.

He laughed, then gave her a quick little kiss. "I'm sorry, too. What I did today was pretty dumb, but I don't regret it."

"Well, you were right too. I don't like admitting that I need help. I feel like it makes me look weak and we both know how I feel about that."

"It's one of the things I love about you."

There was that word again. Love. Kensi decided that she liked it. She had always been wary about using it, but with Deeks, it felt natural to say it. It felt natural to feel it. And really, it was the only way to describe how she felt. It was what she felt when he gave her that adorable, crooked smile of his. It was what she felt when she saw him walking into the bullpen every morning, golden locks shining, big grin on his face when he saw her. She felt it when he wore those v-necks that she really liked; especially the blue one that made his eyes even more gorgeous than they already were. It was what she felt when he protected her, though she didn't like admitting that she sometimes needed protection. The list went on and on.

Love. It was a nice word.

Kensi had a feeling she would be using it a lot more.

So there's chapter 7! It was a little shorter, but I hope you guys liked it anyway.

I will hopefully be able to update within the week, so stay tuned.

As always, reviews are much appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

-DaughterOfPoseidon333