Journey Series: Ellick

The Moment You've Been Waiting For

It had become a domestic habit of theirs that on their days off, they would run together and then spend the rest of the day watching movies. Ellie had began a game, where she would wrap up a new dvd and hide it when Nick wasn't watching. She could never believe how, no matter how hard she watched, she never saw him find it. But it was always the same movie that she hid that they'd watch. And when it was over, it would go into his ever-growing collection of films.

Ellie spent time playing other games with him. Games that helped him. She'd ask, what his favorite color was. If he wasn't sure, she would ask over and over until he was sure that it was blue. Then she'd ask why, over and over until he could say he liked blue because it reminded him of beach days with his family and the color of his mother's eyes. Torres learned that he possessed great patience. To a normal being, Ellie's repetitive questions would grow irritable. Not for him. Which was surprising since, in the field, he was very much a take action kind of guy. They did discuss how patience was different than being lax.

They didn't talk about where they were. They clearly both knew they weren't just friends. They had crossed that line a long time ago. Neither had dated since that evening they made the promise to wait. But neither had made any move forward from where they were. Torres was happy, and Bishop didn't want to push that. He was happy, but knew that they couldn't keep on like they had. Movies and games of self-discovery were fun, but after nearly a year that way, he knew with a refreshed confidence that he was ready to dive in head first again. And he was ready.

It was Saturday morning, they road in on his bike from the diner, (they still stayed there regularly through the week). Ellie had a back-pack slung over her shoulder. After a few weeks of waiting for her to ask, Nick had finally told her that she could shower at his place. While she showered, he made coffee. They hadn't had coffee at the diner. Nick told Ellie it was because she desperately needed to shower (which earned him a sharp elbow to the ribs) but really it was because he knew Gibbs had pulled into the parking lot and was waiting for them to leave. That man loved coffee way too much. Ellie hadn't seen him, but Torres passed him a sly wink. Gibbs had grinned. They both knew that the other knew. It was fun.

The coffee was ready, and Ellie appeared. "Ooo coffee," she squealed. Squeezing in beside him to lunge for the prepoured cup of stuff that was Gibbs's lifeblood, he caught a whiff of her honey-lemon body lotion. The way she moved, talked, and looked had always made him think of her as the embodiment of sunshine. Now she smelled like it too. Ever since he told her that, it seemed like she always wore it. "-shower." Wait, what was she saying? "I love it. Don't look at me like that, I can't help that your incredibly modern shower is attractive to my taste." Oh... okay. She's in love with my shower.

He had no plan. Didn't usually. So how everything went so perfectly, he couldn't tell you. But she was talking about his shower and then he closed the space between them. He cupped her face between his hands, and when their lips met ever so softly it was like the forth of July. Fireworks of passion literally exploded around them. It was nothing like that little promise kiss all those years ago. It was more like the fulfillment of the tension leading to the promise and following it all packed together.

When they did break apart he said, "Feel free to use my shower anytime." She teasingly arched an eyebrow. "Is that an invitation?" "For you to move in with me," he replied, "yes." For a moment, she looked knocked off her guard. "Unless that's not what you want..." he said, "What? Oh no, no! I'd love to move in with you." He twirled her around, clearly in a celebratory mood. "What was that now?" She giggled, "Nick, you are perfectly exasperating. I said that I'd love to move in with you." "Good," he replied, spinning her again, "because I love you too." She stumbled over her next words, "I-I-I never said it first... why did you say also?" "You thought it first," he said. Carefully, she said, "When?" "The night I left," was the ready answer.

"I don't know whether I should be angry, frightened, curious, or all three right now, because that is absolute-" "Truth?" he interjected. "Well, yes..., but that doesn't mean..." he cut her off with yet another kiss that nearly knocked her off her feet. Pursing her lips she said, "You know you aren't going to win every argument just because you swoop in and kiss me, right?" He smiled. "It's worth a shot though, right? So... you'll move in with me?" He kissed her again. Absolutely feverish with delight, she said, "Oh, definitely."