Drabble of the Week: Worth the Wait

She slipped off her shoes with a huff of breath the moment she stepped through the door, the low flicking of the television playing some late night show the only illumination in the house, Monty and Deeks’ eyes gently trained on her movements, “her boys” she’d commonly say, affection welcome and natural.

A late night call from Kat had sent her from the house, planting a goodnight kiss on the lips of her sleepy boyfriend before dragging herself up from the tangle of blankets and limbs on the couch, the woman experiencing a rush of cold feet over her approaching wedding, desperate for a hug and reassurances from a friend.

“You aren’t supposed to be awake,” she murmured, surveying the scene before her, dog cuddled against her housemate’s thigh and his blue eyes half rimmed as they watched her near.

“Waiting up, just in case.”

A smile, touched by exhaustion, crossed Kensi’s features as she lifted the blanket draped over his lap to press against his side, left shoulder quickly becoming a makeshift pillow, his warmth and companionship deeply welcome. “I’m good, and their wedding is still on.”

“You should sleep.”

“So should you.”

“I was-“

“Waiting up,” she finished, sentence punctuated by a yawn a nuzzle of her face against his shoulder, the idea of taking the stairs to their waiting bed inconceivable.

He woke with a sharp pain in his neck, delivered by the couch. (Waking with her in his arms was worth it.)

—

He made it as far as the foot of the bed, freshly showered and overrun to the point of collapsing, but God, simply the idea of slipping beneath those covers without her slender, warm form beside him, scent of her shampoo on the pillows and ice cold toes getting pushed between his calves, was so utterly abominable that a heavy lump caught in his throat, forcing him away from the bedroom when she couldn’t be close, when he already felt the twisting in his gut over their separation.

He parked himself on the couch with bare feet resting on the coffee table and Monty curled at his side, confusion and loneliness in the old dog’s eyes, clearly feeling the absence of both his people over the past days, house achingly empty without Kensi’s cackles and voice, though he never bought this house with the intention of living alone.

They were never supposed to be alone, not truly, not since stumbling over the worst “our thing” became intimate “I love yous” paired with kisses beneath the sheets of their bed, not since their future became so perfectly confirmed, every dream on a limb now and only the faint buzz of a text from his temporary partner shifting him on the couch cushions.

Tomorrow I’ll pick up that Chai for you, slip in a cinnamon roll if I’m feeling generous

Don’t bother, I’d lose it to car sickness after two minutes

Hilarious. How are you doing tonight?

Phone trembling in his hands for a half minute, caught between the honest answer she deserved and the gentle one that would let her sleep with no problem that night, Deeks ignored the moisture pricking his eyes and uncertainty tearing at his everything before pressing out a reply.

I’m waiting up