Anonymous: "That isn't yours."
Kensi spins around, her eyes wide and her mouth dropped. He wasn't supposed to be here for at least another hour. It's only eight in the morning!
"What are you doing here?" she asks, clearing her throat.
"I got up early today, went surfing. If you would ever check your phone you'd see that I offered for you to come with me, but it seems that you were a little busy yourself… hmm?" Deeks walks over towards her desk, his hands in his pockets and both eyes narrowed. "That's the box. No, correction- that isn't just the box. That is my box."
She swallows and looks down to what is, in fact, the box. The infamous, yet still somehow unopened, box.
"I was just… fixing something. That's all."
Deeks folds his arms. "You gave that to me years ago, Kens. Are you trying to tell me that you just suddenly realized that you had to 'fix' something inside of it?"
She nods, shrugging. "Yeah, pretty much."
"What is it?" He takes a step forward and she cowers back, hovering over the possession. His possession.
"Nothing."
"That's my box, Fern. Are you telling me that I can't open my own box?"
"You can open it." She doesn't move aside but instead just folds her arms. "Do you wanna open it?"
Deeks narrows his eyes. "I don't know. It doesn't really seem as if you want me to open it."
"I just don't know how you're going to feel about what's inside."
"I don't really think you ever would've hyped it up this much if you didn't think I'd like it."
"Maybe you're right. I mean, the anticipation has been building for awhile." She shifts her weight onto the other foot and feels his gaze, steady and intense, watching her every move. "It could be disappointing."
"Is that honestly what you think?"
His tone exudes an odd sincerity and Kensi momentarily forgets how to breathe. Eventually she regains her voice and asks- "Are we still talking about the box?"
Deeks holds her stare for a long moment, then his expression softens and he shakes his head. Kensi's heart skips a beat. "I'm not."
She watches him in stunned silence, unsure of how to proceed but she that she needs to find a way. Clearly, they both want to figure out how to make this work.
"Deeks, I-"
"Morning," Sam says, his usual chipper self as he walks into the bullpen.
Kensi chuckles softly as she looks down to her feet. Deeks doesn't even bother trying to mask his disappointment and grinds his teeth, staring up at the ceiling.
"Morning," he manages to mutter.
"Hey guys," Callen chimes in as he enters, dropping his bag down onto the surface of his desk.
Deeks doesn't even bother trying to salvage their conversation- he knows that with the team there, the moment is gone. Whatever the hell that 'moment' even was.
He walks over to his desk but turns around to watch as Kensi grabs the box and tucks it back up onto the top shelf. Deeks holds his breath as she passes, and with a quiet exhale slowly begins to wonder what it's going to take for her to finally let him in. Or vice versa.