Sorry guys. Things with my eyes has been getting all worse. I can't read fifteen minutes without my eyes starting to burn and receiving a migraine. I hope this longer than normal chapter.
Chapter 32: Night Out
Deeks awoke to a rough wet tongue leaving slober all over his face. "Gross, Monty." Deeks said grabbing a shirt from the floor and wiping his face off. Monty barked and jumped off the bed retreating out of the room, his mission complete. Deeks yawned and stretched out noticing how there was just a quick stab of pain. It didn't linger and he was glad that he was finally healing and getting back into his normal routine. There was of course the small problem of his pain meds. He grabbed the bottle from his nightstand and popped one in his mouth. He was at least decreasing his dose from when he'd started at two pills two and a half weeks ago. Deeks rolled out of bed in his sweats and padded into the kitchen to feed Monty. Sure enough his dog was sitting waiting by his bowl only there was a visitor in his kitchen as well.
"Oh um, I wasn't expecting anyone today. I'll go put on a shirt. You can sit down Callen." Deeks invited.
"You're fine. I'm just stopping by to see how you're doing."
"Better, thanks."
"Good enough to go out for drinks?" He inquired.
"Maybe. Not sure if I should with some of the meds I'm taking."
"Well you can take it easy and drink some water, but are you good enough to go out?" Callen asked genuinely interested.
"Yeah. I'm able to give Monty his walk again. Another week and I should be able to surf again. Then I'll be back at work in two weeks." Deeks said longingly.
Callen could hear from the tone of his voice that Deeks was itching to get back to work, to be able to do something and not be confined.
"Glad to hear it. Your dog is still waiting to eat." Callen said nodding to Monty.
"Oh right. Sorry boy." Deeks dished out two cups of Iams for Monty and watched as he devoured it.
"Kensi'll be by later to pick you up and meet us at Dave and Busters."
"I love that place!" He said excitedly. Callen laughed.
"Good. Be ready for six. And heal faster brother, the replacement is driving Kensi crazy."
Deeks chuckled, "Yeah I'll try."
"Nice to see you Deeks."
"Yeah, you too." Deeks replied embracing Callen in a "man hug" and watched him leave.
"Well that was weird." Deeks mused patting Monty. "Ready for your walk?" Monty barked in reply and wagged his tail happily.
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Deeks sighed. There was nothing left for him to do. He 'd cleaned his apartment, made himself a quiche, watched a movie from his childhood on Netflix, and had showered. It was only one. He still had hours to kill before Kensi got home. He grabbed out his laptop and began searching different bakeries that do wedding cakes when he remembered that he hadn't called Ray still. Putting his laptop down on the table he grabbed his phone and called the number of the special burn phone he'd left in Ray's getaway car.
It picked up after three rings. "Marty?"
"Hey Ray." Deeks said with a smile.
"Long time no contact."
"Yeah I know, sorry about that." Deeks apologized. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good. Got a new job, Jenna and I are married, and our son is doing well."
"Oh wow. What's his name?" He asked curiously.
"Martin." Ray said waiting for Deeks to realize.
"Nice. Wait, that's my name."
"Yeah brother."
"Wow, uh thank you Ray. That's, wow. Thank you. I'm honored."
"I wanted to."
"Think you could do me an honor?" Deeks asked smiling wide.
"Name it."
"Well, Wikipedia and I...?"
"Your thing finally working?" He asked with a grin.
Deeks laughed, "I guess you could say that. Think you could be my best man?"
"No way!" Ray said excited.
"Yeah." Deeks replied with a chuckle.
"Oh my god. You proposed to Wikipedia?!" He asked incredulously and happy.
"Yeah, like a month ago."
"Dude! Why didn't you call me sooner?"
"Well, I almost died and I kept forgetting to call you."
"Whoa, whoa, hold up. You almost died?!" Ray exclaimed questioningly.
"Yeah. Drunk driver, car accident. I lost a kidney, my lung was deflated, my temple got cut and stitched, and I lost lots of blood. Kensi has TBI now."
"Wow, that blows man. I'm glad you're alive." Ray said with relief.
"Me too. So, will you be my best man?" Deeks asked hopefully.
"Of course! I'd be honored to stand along side my brother from another mother." Ray said with a grin that Deeks could hear through the phone. He smiled wide in response.
"Got a date set?"
"We're planning for March. We don't have a specific date yet but our theme is going to be love at first sight, and Kensi has agreed to a ceremony on the beach."
"Sounds nice."
"Yeah." Deeks replied with a smile. "We're going to look at rings this weekend."
"I'm happy for you Marty. I knew you guys would be great together." Deeks chuckled as he heard Ray's subtle 'I told you so' tone.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." Deeks replied. Ray just laughed.
"I'm going to set up the best bachelor party ever, just like the one we planned a kids." Deeks laughed at the mental image. "Okay, well maybe a little less streamers and a little more strippers." Ray corrected after a brief pause.
"Maybe dial it down a bit on the stripper side. We don't need to get too crazy...well, maybe for Callen we do."
"Oh the white, short hair, kinda strange guy?" Ray questioned bringing up a mental image.
"Yup, sounds like him." Deeks affirmed.
"Oh, hey brother I got to let you go. It's time for Martin's nap and it's my turn to put him down." Deeks smiled.
"Alrighty. Bye Ray, it was nice talking to you."
"Yeah, you too Marty." Ray replied sincerely.
The phone disconnected and Deeks set it down, his mood just a bit happier than wrote he called. He looked to his clock. 1:23.
"Feel like walking along the boardwalk Monty?" The dog perked up at his name and stood wagging his tail.
"I'll go get a shirt and your leash." Monty barked happily and followed Deeks into the bedroom.
Monty grabbed his frisbee resting by the door and looked up at Deeks hopeful.
"I guess we can play. I won't be playing tug o' war with it though, understood?" Monty wagged his tail in response and waited for Deeks to take the frisbee and clip on his leash.
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"Yeah! Nice catch Monty!" Deeks exclaimed as Monty ran back with frisbee in mouth. He took the frisbee and tossed it again watching as Monty ran after it and jumped to catch it. "Yeah! That's my boy!" Deeks said proudly. Deeks noticed some people staring at him and knew they were staring at the eight inch scar on his side. It'd gotten too hot and he'd removed his shirt but since then people kept staring. He wasn't oblivious to the whispers and glances but chose instead to ignore them and have fun with his dog like any other guy would. They'd been out walking for only ten minutes before Monty began whining and Deeks gave in and tossed the frisbee. They'd been playing since then which had been only fifteen minutes but Deeks wondered how Monty wasn't tired after continuously sprinting back and forth. It took another few throws before Monty was tired and lay down on the sand. Deeks went to sit beside him and stare at the ocean longingly. He wanted to be out there. A part of who he identified himself to be longed to be out there on the water surfing. It'd been an agonizing two plus weeks, unable to do what he loved every morning. Instead he was confined to his home. His brain rebelled at stagnation and his body even more so. As he watched some of the surfers he sighed and pet Monty.
"I wish I was out there." He said longingly. Deeks sat with Monty staring out at the ocean until his stomach growled and he got up to walk back home.
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Deeks sat on his couch dressed and ready to go. As he waited he kept himself entertained by watching Aloha Fluffy on Comedy Central. He loved laughing and he loved watching Fluffy. He always died laughing at least once each time he watched. It was hard not to. There was a knock at the door and a second later Kensi walked in with Sam, Callen, Eric, and Nell in tow.
"Um, wow. I'm not sure my living room was built to hold this many people." Deeks noted as he looked around at everyone trying to fit in. "Hey Fern, good day at work?"
"Interesting to say the least. We'll tell you in the car. I have to go change my shirt real quick."
"Alright." Deeks said receiving a quick kiss from her as she passed him on the way to the bedroom. "What's up guys?" Deeks asked the people crowded in his home.
Monty was having a field day as everyone pet him and gave him attention. He soaked up the attention and Deeks could have sworn his dog was grinning.
"Nothing." They all replied simultaneously. Deeks smirked. Before he could get out a snarky comment Kensi walked out.
"Alright, lets go have some fun!" She said excitedly.
"Be good Monty, keep the place locked down for me." Deeks said locking the door after he was the last one out.
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Deeks had to admit, being out with the team was ten times more fun than he would have had staying at home. He loved seeing everyone laugh and smile plus it'd been a while since they'd all been in the same room together. It was nice that this time it wasn't a hospital. He was enjoying watching Kensi try to beat Eric at Mario Kart. Kensi may have been good at driving, but compared to Eric in a video game she did about as well as a kid trying to drive for the first time. It was amusing for everyone watching the two. It felt nice being able to have fun again. They were going around playing all the games before finally sitting down to eat. That was when the interesting conversations and inside jokes tended to happen.
They all sat at a booth sitting beside each of their respective partners, still laughing at Sam's failed attempt to play Jump. They were left with menus to look at. Everyone seemed to flip to the alcoholic beverages first. Everyone but himself that is.
"Ooh, look at the Snow Cone!" Eric said. "Oh it reminds me-"
"Of when you were with your Gammy?" Sam teased. Everyone laughed and Eric puffed out his chest.
"No. I was going to say when I went to math camp one year." Eric said. Nell snickered.
"You were that kid?" She asked trying to hold her laugh.
"What do they even have you do there? Calculate the math needed to tie an even knot?" Deeks asked.
Kensi tried to hold her laughter but it came out as a snort making everyone else laugh.
"No." Eric defended. "We, did the math to make a perfect triangle." He said in a softer voice burying his nose in the menu.
Everyone laughed in response. "How thrilling." Callen said through laughter.
"Yeah, like you did more exciting stuff for summer break." Eric retorted wanting them to tease someone else.
"As a matter of fact I did. I got to go to the beach, move around, and play with other kids." Callen replied.
"Whatever." Eric said resigning to the fact he lost.
Everyone grinned and chuckled and looked at their menu to figure out what they wanted. Their waitress came over not a minute later and said cheerily. "Hi everyone, my name is Timbila and I'll be waiting on you tonight. Can I start you guys off with some drinks?" The girl looked to be in her early twenties and genuinely happy with her job.
"Quick question Timbila, I'm seeing a whole lot of alcoholic speciality drinks, but none that aren't. I'm taking pain meds that won't mix well with alcholol and I was trying to find where your Shirley Temples are." Deeks spoke up.
Her face formed a sad smile. "I'm sorry, we dint have that on our menu. I could have them make you a special drink though." She offered.
"That would be amazing, thank you. I'll have that and a water if you please."
"Alright." She replied as she scribbled. "What can I get for the rest of you?"
"I'd like to try the snow cone please." Eric said.
"That one is really good!" Timbila encouraged excitedly.
"I'll have one as well." Nell said.
"I'll have a coke and the Walk The Plank drink as well." Callen ordered.
"Make that two cokes and the Million Dollar Margarita." Sam added.
"And I'll have a Heineken beer please." Kensi said.
The waitress continued to write their orders down with lightning speed. "Alright, and can I interest you all in an appetizer?"
"Ooh, the cheddar cheesy fries!" Kensi said hungrily nudging Deeks. He chuckled.
"We'll do the cheddar cheesy fries and..." He paused waiting for someone else to add something.
"And the spinach dip." Sam input.
"And will that be all?" She asked politely. The group looked around and Callen answered.
"That'll be all for now."
"Great. I'll be back with your drinks in a jiffy and to take your order and your food will be out in no time. " She informed happily.
"Wow. I wish I could be that chipper." Deeks said a tad jealous.
"Yeah. I've never seen someone that happy to be a waitress." Callen noted, her beauty not having gone un-noticed.
"I was." Nell spoke up.
"You were a waitress?" Eric asked surprised.
"Yeah." Nell said not seeing what the big deal was.
"I didn't know you were a waitress. Why didn't you ever tell me?" Kensi inquired.
Nell shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. It never really came up before."
"And you were a happy waitress?" Callen asked not able to picture it.
"Well, bar tender actually, but yes." Nell said.
"When was this?" Eric asked. He seemed completely absorbed in the idea of Nell being a bar tender.
"College my junior and senior year." She said.
"That's so hot." Eric mused not knowing he was saying it aloud.
Everyone laughed at Eric's loose lips and Nell's blush.
The rest of dinner passed by in a similar manner. Someone was always the brunt of the jokes but everyone got their turn at being put under the microscope. It just happened to be Eric who tended to be the one picked on most. It was by far, the most fun everyone had had in a long while. It was a nice way to decompress from the stress of work, and the troubles of everyday life. In some way Deeks wished it could be like this everyday but he knew that would only happen in another life when they all had normal jobs and work hours that didn't endanger their lives constantly. I mean no one ever heard of an accountant or a school teacher or video game tester being part of a shootout. But that was just fantasy, thinking he'd ever lead a normal life.
When Deeks and Kensi finally stepped through the door with to-go boxes in hand it was nearly ten thirty. Deeks was completely exhausted and collapsed in bed with only his boxers on and snuggled into Kensi, drawing her close to him with his arms. He nuzzled his nose into her neck briefly before sighing and falling into a restful sleep.
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So I don't know where all the reviewers disappeared to, but I'd love if you all returned. Lol. I'll see you around soon.