Comminication Skills

Because We're Partners

midnight, Deeks and I made our way silently to the pool. We hadn’t talked much all day. It was… tense between us. I didn’t like it.

            “Will,” I said suddenly as we opened the doors to the pool.

            He turned, and I was shocked at the burning intensity in his vibrant blue eyes. “What?” he asked softly.

            I froze for a second, my mind going blank. I wracked my brain for what to say, the right words to tell him that I wanted desperately, more than anything, to go back to normal. I shook my head. “Never mind,” I muttered, turning and walking swiftly away towards the blind spot.

            I heard him sigh before he followed me. I was mad, but not at him. At myself. I screwed this up. I got emotional. I let my guard down. I let myself get hurt. And now he wanted to say things to me, but to the real me. And now it was tense. It was my fault. I was mad at myself.

            I was aware that my earwig had been silent for hours. “Nell?” I asked softly. “Are you there?”

            I heard her microphone click to life. “I’m here.”

            “How much of today have you heard?”

            She cleared her throat. “Um… All of it.”

            “I kind of epically screwed up, didn’t I?” I was searching for reassurance. I needed someone to talk to.

            She sighed. “No, I don’t think so. But you did let him get to you.”

            “I love him, Nell,” I whispered into the darkness, staring into the shimmering water of the pool.

            “I know,” she whispered back. “He loves you, too.”

            “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about that. I mean, we obviously can’t be together-”

            She cut me off. “And why not?”

            “Because we’re partners. Partners can’t be more than friends.”

            She scoffed. “You guys have been more than friends for a long, long time. And you know it.” Her tone was gentle, but firm.

            I sighed. “I know.”

            Deeks touched my shoulder gently and I jumped, turning around in mid-air. He held up his hands in mock-surrender. “Whoa, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

            “I’ll talk to you later, Nell,” I said to her, and then smiled at him. “Hey. What’s up?”

            “Well, it’s almost twelve fifteen and we’re the only ones here,” he replied instantly, the tension long gone from his face. He was wearing a broad smile, my favorite smile in the entire world.

            “Just wait,” I instructed him, making my way to the blind spot.

            “You know,” he said carefully while we waited, “we’ve been doing an awful lot of cover kissing recently.”

            “If you recall correctly, you’ve been the one kissing me,” I pointed out, my heart already starting to beat a little faster. Where was he going with this?

            “I seem to recall, correctly, that you kissed back.”

            I blushed a little, and was suddenly very relieved for the darkness in the room. “It has to look convincing, Deeks. Haven’t you ever seen that one Sandra Bullock movie where they go to Alaska and fall in love and everything while she’s trying to get a marriage Visa? Little pecks aren’t enough to convince anyone you’re in love.”