Solace can only be found in the arms of a friend

DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE

Boatshed

Nell quickly threw her car in the park and jumped out, practically running to the door. She stopped for a second and composed herself. She turned the knob and stepped inside. She walked up to the whole group.

"There she is!" Kensi said, smiling. Nell returned the smiled.

"You good?" Sam asked her.

"I'm good. You all good?" She replied.

"You know I have a slight kink in my neck." Deeks said, rotating his shoulder and neck. Kensi wacked him in the arm.

"We are all good. Although there is someone that could use your attention." Kensi said, softly nodded behind her to Eric.

"Right." Nell said, taking a breath.

Sam waved them away. Nell swore she heard Deeks say "This is happening" but she wasn't sure.

Eric tenses up when he saw her.

He swallowed to quench his dry throat. "Hi." He said.

"Hi." She returned. She looked at the gash on his head. She leaned in and touched his head.

"It looks worse than it is." He said. "I broke my glasses again." He said.

"I know." She said, a slight playful pout on her face. Truth be told he looked much better without them. Much more handsome and sexy.

"Hetty is getting a spare for me." He said.

"Glad she keeps some in stock. That is the 3 pair in 6 months." She said.

"4 to be exact." Hetty's voice was like a hammer, causing them both to jump.

"Mr. Beale. Please try to keep these in one piece." She said as she handed a brand new pair of glasses to him.

"I will try, Hetty." He said as he slid them on.

"Go home, both of you. Put today behind you." Hetty said as she turned and left.

Nell turned to face Eric. "You know…you took a nasty blow to the head. Concussion symptoms can take hours to develop. You shouldn't be alone tonight." She said, playing with his shirt.

She looked down. "And the truth is…..The truth is I don't want to be alone tonight either." She said, laying her head against his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her. "Let's get out of here, Rockstar. We have had enough excitement for one day." He said, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head. He let her go and took her hand.

"I am starving. What do you want to do for dinner?" She asked as they walked to their cars.

"How about we order some pizza? Have a night in." He said.

"That sounds perfect. I'll swing by a liquor store and get some drinks tonight." She said as she went to her car.

"I'll see you in an hour" She said as she drove off. Eric followed close behind her

Eric's apartment, 1 hour later

There was a knock on the door as Eric was on the phone. He opened it and saw her smiling. She held up a 24 pack of drinks and had her bag slung over her shoulder. She had changed from her work clothes to a pair of lounge pants, a tank top, and a zip up hoodie. He waved her in and closed the door after her. She set the drinks down as he took her bag and took it into the room. He came out right as someone picked up. He placed his order and gave them his payment info.

"Ok thank you. See you soon." He said as he hung up. He set his phone down on the counter and turned to face her when she almost tackled him in a hug.

"Woah, What brought this on?" He said.

"I was so worried about you today. I'm sorry I got mad at you." She said.

He remembered their argument when he asked her to keep the money in his account secret.

"You had every right to be. I never should have asked you to lie for me." He said, softly stroking her hair.

"You didn't ask me to lie." She said.

"No, I did. I asked you to keep it secret which is a lie by omission. You were right." He said.

She sighed.

"Let's make a deal right now. No more talking about what happened today." She said.

"Deal. Now let's see what you got to drink." He said as he opened the fridge.

"They had a big pack of hard ciders so I figure this gives us a little bit of everything." She said.

"Perfect!" He said as he grabbed one and opened it. She fished one out for herself.

They clinked their bottles together and took a drink.

"So Movie, Video Games, or TV tonight?" Eric asked.

"Hmm…Let's do TV tonight."

"Ok. Genre?" Eric asked.

"Something light hearted so Comedy." She said.

The door bell rang. Eric went to answer it finding it was the pizza. He signed the receipt and brought the pizza in.

Nell was on the couch, flicking through the On Demand listings. She found an old British Slap Stick series from the 50s. "This looks good." She said as Eric brought over plates with pizza for them. He sat down next to her.

"Queue it up." He said as he set down napkins for them and grabbed them another pair of drinks. He turned the lights off as the opening started to play.

3 hours later

After 12 episodes they had found themselves in a completely different position. Eric had laid out on the couch and Nell was spooned up against him. She rested her head on a pillow with her arms circling it. Eric draped his arm around her waist and propped his head up with the other one. The episode came to a close and the credits started to show.

Nell yawned. "I think that is enough for me. I am beat." She said as she sat up.

"Yea. I'm ready to call it a night." He said, trying to work the kink out of his neck.

Seeing him working his neck she reached out and started to massage his neck. "How is that?" She asked.

"Much better." He said, closing his eyes. It did feel really good, not just his neck being massaged, but the fact of who was doing said massage.

She stopped and looked up at him. He finished moving his neck and looked at her, returning her gaze. After a few moments she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself in, kissing him on the lips. It wasn't their first kiss but this one was different. There was gentleness to it, a willingness to draw it out instead of rush it. They broke the kiss but didn't pull away from each other.

"I would say I'll sleep on the couch tonight, but something tells me you wouldn't go for that." Eric said, with a knowing smile.

Nell grinned. "Not tonight, Beale." She said.

She released him and they both got up and cleaned up the living room. Eric put the rest of the pizza in the fridge while Nell picked up the bottles. After it was clean they went into Eric's room, closing the door behind him.

"You can change in the bathroom." He said, pointing to where he set her bag. She stooped down to grab it, giving him a smile over her shoulder as she closed the door. He slipped out of his clothes and into a pair of pajamas and a t-shirt. He pulled down some extra pillows for her as she knocked gently.

"You're clear." He said. She opened the door and stepped out wearing a blue pair of pajamas and tank top. He remembered she was looking at them one day they went shopping.

She set her stuff down and walked up to him.

"Thanks for letting me stay over." She said, staring into his eyes.

"Anytime." He said, smiling.

She reached up and took his glasses off, setting them on the night stand. She took his face in her hands and pulled him into a kiss. This one had passion in it, her tongue probing his mouth. He back up until his legs hit the bed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and fell back, pulling her on top of him. She slipped a hand under his shirt and felt his chest. He responded by sliding his hand up her back, softly stroking her skin. She sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Good night, Eric" She said as she kissed his cheek gently.

"Good night, Nell" He returned, kissing her forehead.

Both physically and mentally exhausted from the day both of them fell asleep rather quickly in each other's arms.

4 hours later

Nell slowly woke to the bed shifting. She opened her eyes and saw the place was still pitch black. She noticed a soft noise coming from next to her. She realized Eric was tossing and turning. Mumbles escaped his lips as he shifted, sweating and breathing heavy. Nell sat up and gently touched his shoulder.

"Eric" she whispered. He did not respond.

"Eric" She whispered again a little louder, gently shaking his shoulder. He yelled out as she shot upright. Nell jumped back as Eric looked around, panting.

"Wha…what?" He said. Then it dawned on both of them. He was having a nightmare. She reached out and touched him again.

"It's ok, Eric. You are safe." She said.

He drew his legs up and rested his elbows on his knees, burying his face in his hands. He was still breathing hard.

"Just…just gimme a minute." He said.

She got up and went to the kitchen, returning with a glass of cold water for him.

"Here, drink." She said as she handed him the glass. He took it and drank.

"It's ok, Eric. I'm right here." She said, softly stroking his back.

"I just keep feeling that damn needle in my neck" He said, fingering the spot on his neck, scratching it.

"I know it's hard, Eric." She said as she cradled his head in her arms. "But you can get through this." She said.

"Th..thanks for staying." He said between ragged breaths.

"Always." She said.

"Go back to bed. I'll try to get some sleep." He said.

"We both know that isn't going to happen." Nell said.

Eric knew she was right. Unless both of them were able to sleep neither of them would.

She laid back down on the bed and pulled him down next to her.

"Come here." She whispered as she pulled his head to her chest.

"Listen to my heart. Focus on my breathing. Breath with me." She said. She took a deep breath through her nose, held it for a few moments, and slowly exhaled through her mouth. Eric followed suit and together they established a rhythm

Breath

Beat

Beat

Breath

Beat

Beat

Breath

Eric felt his world expand around him, the sound of her heart and her breath enveloped his mind. Then the blackness started to take him, eventually falling back asleep.

It took her a few moments to realize that he was asleep. She looked down at his blond hair.

"Sweet dreams, Beale." She whispered before falling back asleep herself.

The following morning

The light from outside made its way through a crack in the blind and managed to land right on Nell's face. She groaned a bit before rolling over right into the body of her partner. By instinct she wrapped an arm around his waist. She opened her eyes when she realized what she did and she smiled.

Eric was still, his breathing light. He was still sound asleep. Nell curled up against his body and placed a gentle kiss on his neck. For what seemed like hours she just laid there, listening to him. She flashed back to the last 24 hours and how much it scared her. Not just that there was a mole in OSP, not just that innocent people were hurt, but this was the closest she had ever gotten to losing him. Instinctively she squeezed his waist gently, wanting to make sure she wasn't just dreaming and that he was really there.

He opened his eyes and rolled over, looking right at her. He smiled.

"Good morning."

She smiled back, softly stroking his cheek.

"Morning yourself there." She said.

"How long have you been awake?" He asked.

"An hour or so." She said. She took his hand in hers and kissed it.

"I'm glad you are ok." She said.

"I probably wouldn't be if it wasn't for you." He said.

They laid in silence for a time, just starting into each other's eyes, telling each other everything without words.

"So, what do you want to do today?" She asked him.

"Hmm. I think today should consist of a lot of Video games, TV, and other general laziness." He said.

She smiled. "Sounds good to me." She said.

"But for now, All I want is this." He wrapped his arms around her and rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him. He ran his hands down her sides and gently pulled on her top, sliding it up her body. She moved her arms, allowing him to pull it off and toss it aside. She grabbed his shirt in return and slid it off before laying back down on him. Both of them savored the feeling of their skin touching the other. Nell brought her head to his and began kissing him passionately. They broke the kiss, their lips inches from each other as they tried to catch their breath. Nell nuzzled up against his neck and closed her eyes.

"I love you, Eric." She whispered to him.

"I love you too, Nell." He responded, softly stroking her hair.

Together they shut the world out. Nothing existed outside of the bedroom. They both didn't want to think about NCIS, OSP, Hetty, the team, or anyone. All they needed was each other. They silently made a promise to each other that they would never be alone, never again.

I recently rewatched Traitor and decided I wanted to do a follow up to it. I know it's kind of cliche but this is what popped into my head. I don't really spend a lot of time planning out stories, I just write what ever I think of at the time. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for Reading, Reviewing, Following, And Favoriting. More to come

Thanks to all who have voted in the Poll. If you havn't yet go to my profile and vote on your favorite out of the first 20 episodes.

Also just as a small heads up. Updates are going to be a little more sporatic over the next two months. I am traveling twice in two months, plus I have two really challanging classes in school, a Java Programming class and a Unix class. I will try to update when I can but don't be suprised if it takes awhile for new episodes.