Deeks was released late in the afternoon the next day. Between last minute checks, paperwork, and finding someone to take him down to the lobby, he had a headache that had nothing to do with his concussion. Even so, he was beyond grateful to be going home.

Kensi had shown him pictures of his apartment, which was not the same dinky place he remembered. Thank god. That place had been truly awful, but the only thing he could afford a couple years out of law school and on a new public defender's salary.

"You ready to go?" Kensi asked, coming back in his room with her phone in one hand. "Hetty's letting me take the day."

"You don't have to do that," Deeks told her immediately, even though the thought of going to an apartment he couldn't remember setting foot in all by himself terrified him more than he wanted to admit.

"Deeks, I'm not leaving you all alone for your first day out of the hospital," she said in an exasperated tone, echoing his thoughts. She had an uncanny ability to do that; he didn't know if it solely came from working together so closely or something more.

He exhaled softly. "Thank you."

A few minutes later, he'd been wheeled out into the parking lot and safely loaded up into Kensi's SUV. As Kensi carefully pulled out onto the road, he had the strangest sense of Deja vu. He had no specific memory, just feeling that he'd been in this seat before, leaving a hospital with Kensi.

He didn't say anything, not wanting to give Kensi false hope. Or himself.

Silence settled around them, but it wasn't awkward. Deeks looked out the window, watching houses and trees pass by until the blur started to make him dizzy. Then he closed his eyes, and within minutes, the motion of the car lulled him to sleep.

Deeks jerked awake to Kensi gently shaking his shoulder.

"Ugh, sorry," he muttered, blinking rapidly.

"You don't have to apologize for falling asleep. You looked so comfortable there, I feel bad about waking you up," she said, standing by while he slid out of the passenger seat.

He walked up to the apartment Kensi had shown him, conscious of her at his shoulder. He found the keys Sam Hanna gave him and unlocked the door, hesitating momentarily before he crossed the threshold.

It opened up into a living room area, furnished with a couch, television, and a good amount of pictures and other decorative pieces. He recognized one of the surfboards on the wall and his old guitar. So some things hadn't changed completely. There were a couple pieces, like the gigantic light up arrow, he questioned.

"Do I still surf much?" he asked, wandering over to run his fingers over the waxy surface.

"Whenever you can. I know you want to more, but we work a lot of weekends," Kensi answered.

"I guess not much has changed then. I get up, used to get up, before the sun to surf on days I had back-to-back cases." He turned to a skateboard also standing upright against the wall near the door.

"You've taken me with a few times. We even went undercover as surfers once."

Twisting his head to look at Kensi, he saw her standing behind him with her fingers tightly intertwined, face carefully blank.

"Really. Are you any good?"

"I'm not bad," she said, holding his gaze for all of five seconds before she sighed in exasperation. "Damn, I can't lie to the guy with amnesia. I'm not you. There, does that make you happy?"

"A little," he said. Abandoning his explorations, he sat on the couch. Embarrassingly, just standing for a few minutes had sapped his energy.

"Can I make you something to eat? I can't really cook, but I could heat up soup or make a sandwich," Kensi said.

"I'm not really hungry."

She smiled faintly. "Normally, you'd make some joke about how I think pop tarts are a gourmet meal."

"Do you think that's a gourmet meal?" he asked, gratified when her smile widened. He liked making her laugh and smile a little bit too much.

"No! But they're good," she protested, the immediacy of her response making him think this had been a common line of conversation between them. She sat down on the other side of the couch, seeming more comfortable in the face of their "argument".

Resting his cheek on his fist, he regarded her with interest.

"Ok, what else classifies as edible on Kensi Blye's list?" he wondered. She'd shared so much about him, but relatively about herself.

"Don't laugh." She gave him a severe look, to which he held up his hands, then she said, "Twinkies."

"I'm sensing a pattern here. Is that why there were candy wrappers all over the floor of your car?"

"There were not!"

"I saw a Snickers and a Twix one right under the floor mat."

"Oh my god, even with amnesia you're obnoxious," she groaned, crossing over the midpoint of the couch so she could gently elbow him. Despite her groans and protests, he got the distinct feeling she was enjoying herself.

"That's not a no," he pointed out. Tossing her head back, she gave in.

"Fine. Yes, I love junk food and I am a huge slob. I don't fold clothes, I hate washing dishes, and if you didn't keep up on it, the entire SUV would be covered in takeout containers."

This was the most animated he'd seen her in the last three days. It was fascinating. He relaxed into the couch cushions, Kensi's arm brushing against his.

"Sounds like my college roommate." He shifted again, trying to find a comfortable position. "So, you told me we met on a shared case. What was it about? Did we interact much?"

Kensi chuckled at that, and he had the sense she'd thought of some inside joke. "We met on a case where we were both undercover, only neither of us realized it at first."

"Ooh, that sounds like fun."

"Not exactly. You were undercover at an MMA gym, and had been for quite a while by the time we came into the picture," Kensi explained, shaking her head with mild amusement. "We clocked each other right away. Well, I thought you were sketchy and you didn't believe I was our victim's girlfriend." She paused to catch his eye. "I've never had anyone call me out that quickly. And I've also never admitted that to anyone, including you," she admitted.

Deeks sensed the importance of that revelation and decided not to tease about it. Maybe he would have under normal circumstance, but he didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Anyway, then Sam went in as a very experienced fighter. Since the gym had a heavy military background, they welcomed him in right away and offered the position you'd been working for right away. You ended up fighting it out for the spot," Kensi continued.

"Seriously? I fought the guy who came here yesterday. The Mr. T wannabe?" Deeks demanded, vaguely amazed and horrified. Kensi snorted, pressing her lips together.

"I wouldn't suggest calling Sam that to his face."

"Yeah, that doesn't seem wise. How did I not die?"

"You actually held your own pretty well for being in a completely different weight group than Sam. Not to mention, you were a lot leaner back then."

"Gee, thanks."

"You know what I mean." She knocked his shoulder with the back of her hand, leaving it there. "We've been through a lot together," she murmured, wiping her knuckles over her cheek, though not fast enough to stop a tear from escaping.

"Hey, it's ok," Deeks told her, automatically reaching to comfort her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized in a slightly nasally voice. "You shouldn't have to worry about me."

"I don't mind." Taking care of other people came naturally to him.

"I just—" Inhaling deeply, she held it for several seconds, and when she exhaled again, seemed to have more control. "I shouldn't be telling you this, and I'm not blaming you at all, but it feels like I've lost you."

Not sure what to say, Deeks lifted his free arm in invitation. Kensi buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. As he held her, slowly running his hand over her upper back, he felt a surge of protectiveness and affection.

"I may not remember meeting you the first time, or anything that happened after, but I'd like to get to know you again," he said after a few minutes.

Kensi lifted her head, her eyes heartbreakingly hopeful. "Really?"

"Absolutely."

Her eyes dropped to his lips then before drifting back up to meet his. She didn't try to conceal the longing. Drifting closer, Deeks waited for Kensi to move back, to object, to do anything to indicate she didn't want this. When she stayed, lips slightly parted and eyes still wide, he closed that last inch between them, kissing her.

Her lips were soft and slightly hesitant on his for a second. She tentatively deepened the kiss, cupping the back of his head in a way that felt both felt both strangely familiar and completely new. Electric.

Their lips parted and Kensi pulled away from him slowly.

"We don't do this, do we?" he asked softly.

"No, but we wanted to," Kensi answered. "At least I did."

Deeks didn't know what to do with that. Before he could even think of a response, Kensi scrambled up from the sofa. He missed her warmth and touch as soon as she was out of reach.

"I better go. You need rest."

"We should talk about what just happened." He started to get up but Kensi waved him back down, almost frantically. "No, don't get up. I—call if you need anything."

She was out the door with an impressive amount of speed, leaving Deeks to blink in confusion.

"What the hell just happened?" he muttered to himself.

A/N: So, that was dramatic. As much as she might want to, Kensi still can't let herself take that leap just yet.