A/N: So I have agonized over this chapter for far too long and it's time to just put it out there and let it be. This is the final one for this story so I hope you like it! Enjoy!
Kensi wrestled with her feelings for another twenty minutes resolving once again to make this op work. At last, exhausted by her inner turmoil, she headed upstairs. Deeks was in the closet when she arrived in the master suite.
"I'll take the couch in the living room," he said as she walked through the door.
"No," Kensi said quickly. "Someone could be watching the house. We should…we should stay together up here."
Deeks watched her quietly for a moment before nodding. "Okay."
"Okay," she echoed. "I'll uh, I'll just be in the bathroom then."
"Okay. I'll be here."
Kensi entered the master bath and stared at herself in the mirror. "Get a grip Blye," she growled.
Maybe this was why she hadn't been able to play nice with her partner; this moment that she'd known was coming all day. It wasn't like she hadn't spent the night with a man before. It was just…this was Deeks. Her partner. She didn't even let him drive her car for crying out loud.
Kensi shook her head and got to work. As she pulled on her pajamas she found herself wishing that she'd brought something that covered a little more of her body. The silky shorts and top weren't particularly revealing but they still showed off more than Deeks ever needed to see. They were all she'd had in her go bag, overnight ops generally being of a more…sensitive nature than the one she was currently on.
She brushed her teeth and then stepped out of the bathroom, steeling herself for Deeks' comments about her choice of sleepwear. Instead she stopped short. Her partner was sitting on the right side of the bed, reading a book.
"Really?" Kensi asked.
He looked up. "What?"
"You know I sleep on the right side of the bed." She put her hands on her hips.
"How would I know that?" he asked incredulously.
"I have told you that like a million times!" she replied.
"Oh of course. How could I have forgotten our daily conversations about your sleeping habits?" Deeks retorted.
"Deeks come on!"
"No! You have gotten your way all night. Now I want mine."
"Are you seriously pouting right now?"
"No," Deeks said. "I was here first."
"Please Baby?" Kensi asked, batting her eyelashes.
"Oh, really? I've put up with grumpy Kensi all day and now sexy Kensi comes out?" he groaned.
Kensi sauntered toward the bed. "Please? I promise I'll vacuum for real tomorrow."
"I am not falling for this."
Kensi rolled her eyes and shoved him. "Move over!"
She crawled onto the bed as he groaned and shifted to the left side. "Don't think I'm doing this for you. I like the left side of the bed," he told her as she pulled the covers over her legs. "It's my preferred nighttime location."
He pulled the blankets away from her, bunching them up on his side of the bed.
"Hey!" she cried. "What are you doing?"
"Helping myself to the covers," he told her. "I suspect you are a cover hog. Therefore I am taking more than my fair share in the anticipation that you will take more than your fair share before the night is over."
"Give them back!" Kensi yanked them toward her but Deeks refused to budge. "Fine!" she hissed. "Be that way."
She turned out off the light and slid down beneath what was left of the sheets. Her foot brushed against his leg and Deeks flinched.
"Ah! Why are your feet so cold?" he cried. "Geez, they're like blocks of ice!"
"Maybe I'm having cold feet about our marriage!" she growled.
"Just keep those things away from me!" he told her.
"Stay on your side of the bed and I will," she retorted.
"Fine."
"Fine."
Deeks pushed the covers off and rose.
"Where are you going?" Kensi asked.
"The bathroom," Deeks said. "Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, go," she replied.
He rolled his eyes and closed the bathroom door behind him. Kensi yanked all the blankets back to her side of the bed and burrowed beneath them.
Deeks returned a moment later, walking to his side of the bed.
"I hope you used the air freshener," Kensi told him.
"Seriously?" he asked.
"Just saying," she shrugged.
Deeks paused by the bed and reached for the drawstring on his sweatpants.
"What are you doing? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Kensi cried.
"I sleep in my boxers," he told her.
"Not here you don't!" she replied in horror.
Deeks sighed and let his head drop in frustration. "Fine. Pants it is."
He got back into the bed and Kensi slid as far away from him as possible. "You know what? I think I changed my mind. You should go sleep on the couch," she told him.
Deeks sighed again and stared up at the ceiling. "I'm not sleeping on the couch. I'm already in the bed." He turned off the light.
"Well then I will," Kensi started to slide off the bed.
"Kensi," Deeks reached for her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Deeks, let me go," she snapped.
"Kensi, would you just," he grunted as she tried to squirm away. "Just stop. Stop for one second okay?"
She stopped trying to push him off, but her body remained tense.
"Just for a minute, just pretend I am actually your husband. Pretend you're Melissa and I'm Justin and we've just spent the day moving in and now we're going to bed," he told her.
"This, is crazy," she told him. "You are crazy."
"Just…try," he said softly.
Deeks lay quietly, his partner pressed against his body in a way that would definitely constitute a serious breach of the NCIS code of conduct. He had surprised himself as much as her, and he hoped she couldn't feel his heartbeat pounding in his chest. He'd reacted without thought, just knowing that they couldn't continue the way they had been all day.
He felt Kensi relax, slowly, into his hold; her breathing, rapid at first, and then eventually more steady.
Her body was warm and it fit perfectly in his arms. He tried not to think about it, tried not to feel it too much. This was Kensi. His partner. His friend.
Kensi, who made him laugh, who challenged his wit in a way that no woman ever had. He should be angry, he should fuming at the way she had treated him all day. But instead…beautiful, badass Kensi Blye was making his heart race.
Her bare shoulder peeked out from beneath the blankets and Deeks felt the wild urge to kiss it. He wondered if her skin was as soft as it looked and had to shake himself mentally.
It was completely inappropriate to think about his partner like this. To think about how perfectly she curved into his body. To think about right it felt to have her back pressed against his chest.
The hem of her silky pajama top had moved northward in their struggle and the urge to stroke his thumb over the skin of stomach was nearly overwhelming.
He wished he could tell what his partner was thinking, wished he knew if she welcomed his embrace. Because to him it felt like the piece that had been missing from his life had finally fallen into place. For the first time in years it felt like he could breathe.
"Are you going to let me go?" she finally asked, but her was softer, more uncertain.
He reluctantly loosened his hold and she turned to face him. His hand lingered on her hip but he let it drop when she shifted further away.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a wife."
"Well…it's definitely not your strongest ability," he told her.
She rolled her eyes, but a smile touched her lips. "I don't know…I don't know what's wrong with me. I should have vacuumed," she sighed. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," he told her, slightly stunned by the apology.
"No," she said firmly. "It's not okay. I shouldn't be treating you like this. I'm going to make it work. I'll do better. I'll be Melissa."
Deeks chuckled.
"What?" she frowned. "Why are you laughing?"
"You're just so…Kensi. Always so determined to get it right," he shrugged. "The only thing we have to get right is catching the bad guy. Everything else here is just pretend. Justin and Melissa are only as real as we make them."
Kensi was quiet for a moment. "What would you do?" she asked. "If you were Justin and I was Melissa?"
"Right now?" he asked.
She nodded.
He brushed his hand over her cheek. "I would tell you that I love you. Crazy impulsive, headstrong you," his voice was soft, deep. "And then I would kiss you," he paused, "if we were Justin and Melissa. And then, I would hold you, Melissa, until we fell asleep." He let his hand drop from her face. "But we're just pretending."
"Right," Kensi swallowed, suddenly looking uncertain, "just pretending."
"If you want me to sleep on the couch I will," he told her.
"No," she said quickly. "Justin and Melissa are in love. If someone's watching the house…Justin wouldn't sleep on the couch."
"Okay," he told her. "Then I, Justin, will stay."
"Good." She rolled over, facing away from him. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," he echoed.
It was terrible having her this close and yet so far away. Deeks closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind of all the feelings the last ten minutes had triggered.
"Deeks?"
His eyes popped back open. "Yeah?"
"Maybe…Justin should keep holding Melissa. Just in case anyone is watching."
Deeks felt his heart skip a beat. "Yeah, sure, of course," he said. "Just in case."
He turned onto his left side and put his arm around her once more. She sighed and snuggled a little closer. "I think I kind of like Melissa," she said softly.
Deeks closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of her, his heart full of something he still couldn't quite identify. "Me too."
A/N: So...there you go! Just FYI school has started again for me so I won't be publishing as often as I was during the summer. I have written plenty though so there will definitely still be new stuff coming your way, just not as frequently. Perhaps even a little...Neric? GASP. Things for you to look forward to! Leave your final thoughts in the reviews!