It's another Monday morning and Kensi is awake well before her annoying alarm sounds. If she stopped to really think about it, she would realize it has been happening a lot more often lately. All those years she spent obsessing over the mystery of her father's death had caused an inordinate number of sleepless nights. She should be sleeping like a baby now that her father's killer had been found and subsequently put out of her misery by Assistant Director Granger. The recent rash of sleeplessness can only be attributed to one thing, or rather one person. Marty Deeks.

Why can't she get him out of her head? She tried everything imaginable to keep her mind off of his adorable smirk, beautiful ocean blue eyes and his tall, lean body. Inevitably her thoughts would drift back to something he said or to one of those "looks" he tossed her way daily. He had been her conscience and her rock throughout the ordeal concerning finding her father's murderer. She wouldn't have made it through the day without his help and support. She wanted, no, she needed to let him know just how much she appreciated him but she was afraid to go there. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to talk about it without getting emotional. And she didn't do emotional. She would just have to settle for showing him she cared in little ways and hope he got the message. She also needed to concentrate on keeping her thoughts about him on a more appropriate and professional level.

The truth is that she enjoys the "what would happen if" daydreams she has about him. Nothing will ever really happen. It can't. For the sake of their partnership, it absolutely can't go any further than the daydreams. She just has to do a better job of controlling her thoughts.

Control. She's good at it, or at least she used to be. Every unpleasant experience in her life had caused her to erect a nice sturdy portion of a wall around her heart and soul. It was so solidly in place that nothing could crack it, or so she had believed. Somehow, her shaggy blonde haired, blue eyed partner had managed to worm his way around the walls and chip away at them. She closed her eyes and smiled dreamily at the thought of his arms around her and began to dream of what it would be like if he actually kissed her. Their lips are just inches apart in her lovely dream when the obnoxious beeping of her alarm clock shocked her back into the harsh reality of her day.

She jumped up, threw on some shorts and her exercise attire and prepared to go for her morning run. She drove to an area near the beach about two miles from her house. She didn't run in this area often because of security protocols but it was definitely one of her favorite running paths. Her hair was pulled back in her usual ponytail and her earphones blared out music from Coldplay, Daughtry and Nickelback among other favorites from her phone. Again she caught herself dreaming about Deeks and smiling despite herself. She didn't notice the two very cute guys who jogged past her at different points along the beach. They both pasted on their best smiles, hoping to catch her eye but she was oblivious and in her own world.

She finished her run and drove back to her house using a different route where she showered, dressed and subconsciously spent a little more time on her hair and makeup than usual. She grabbed her badge, gun and purse and headed to work.

She stopped at one of Deeks' favorite coffee spots and bought coffee for the team and also stopped at a bakery on the way and bought donuts for everyone. She made sure she had a couple of Deeks' favorites in there. He was always doing nice things for her and she rarely reciprocated but today she just felt the need to do so. She knew he would probably make some sort of joke out of it but she didn't care. That was what they did. The friendly, slightly suggestive banter between the two of them was comfortable and often very funny. She tried very hard not to laugh at some of his silly one-liners but she was finding it harder and harder to keep her smirk hidden. Cracks in the walls. She parked in her space and noticed that Deeks was already there. She checked herself in the car mirror, grabbed the donuts and coffee and headed into OSP.

"Good Morning!" she called as she entered the bullpen.

"Morning Kensi" Sam and Callen answered back.

Deeks jumped up and took the tray that carried the coffees and greeted her with "Morning Sunshine!"

He distributed the coffees to the appropriate agent's desks and made a beeline for the pink box of pastries she had placed on hers. He noticed that she had picked up his favorite donuts and suddenly froze. He slowly turned to look at Kensi wondering what was up and if there was some sort of prank involved.

"Umm…did I do something wrong?" Deeks asked.

Sam quipped, "I'm sure you have. Care to share?"

"Of course you did" said Callen and looked to Kensi for confirmation.

She looked absolutely clueless, "What? No he didn't do anything wrong."

"...Yet. Give him a few minutes" said Sam.

"Why did you get these particular donuts? Not that I'm complaining because I love them which is why I make all sorts of inappropriate sounds when I'm eating them but I can't help but wonder what the punch line of this joke might be" Deeks grinned.

"No joke, no punch line" she said.

"Wait for it….." said Sam with an expectant look on his face.

"Maybe you just like to hear me moan when I eat them" Deeks said as he flashed one of his famous smirks.

"What? No! You…I do not…you just….." she sputtered and felt a telltale blush creep up her neck which she tried very hard to suppress. It would have been much easier to hide if she had not had one of her daydreams that may or may not have included him moaning.

Deeks took a bite of the donut and proceeded to demonstrate rather loudly.

"OK, too much information" said Callen as he glanced at Kensi and noticed the shocked look on her face. He also noticed the blush and wondered, not for the first time, if something was going on between the junior partners.

Sam just snickered and said "I'm waiting for her to slug him. We can't start the day properly without Kensi punching Deeks."

Kensi was mortified. It would be a long time before she would ever get his favorite donuts again. She tried to compose herself and decided the best way to do that was to change the subject.

"Where's Hetty?" she asked.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her this morning. I'm sure she's floating around here somewhere" Callen answered.

Before they could speculate as to her whereabouts they were summoned by Eric's shrill whistle. "Got a case" he announced.

Sam and Callen headed up the stairs with Kensi following behind. Deeks grabbed her wrist before she could exit the bullpen and asked: "Hey, seriously, is everything OK?"

"Sure, why wouldn't it be?" she said.

"I don't know, you look…sort of….different…and ….never mind" he added hesitantly as he gently guided her toward the stairs.

She was happy to let it go at that. No way was she going to get into a discussion about her feelings. Especially not with him!

They entered OPS noticeably behind the other two agents who were staring at the door waiting for them to appear. Kensi ignored the stares and looked at the big screen as Eric and Nell started the briefing.