NCIS: LA does not in any way belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement.

Kensi's ironic reply to Deeks' quip about never telling Sam about the kiss they just witnessed between Michelle and Sidorov needled him. He felt the heat of annoyance rise in his chest. How could she think that Sam shouldn't be jealous when she had exhibited the petulance of a child when she heard Deeks and Monica kissing? Deeks knew that he could not handle watching Kensi being kissed by another man, but at least he did not lie to himself about it the way Kensi clearly was.

"Oh, that's interesting. Kind of like me, when I was undercover with Monica?"

He probably shouldn't have provoked her, but the stress of the mission was getting to them both, and the conversation about their lack of communication regarding their relationship status was still front and center in his thoughts. He was trying to figure out exactly how he could talk to her about their "thing," but every time he tried, someone interrupted. Really, he was only just figuring out the intense and confusing depths of his feelings himself. Expressing to his gorgeous, dangerous, cute, intensely jealous partner that she did not need to worry about him being with another woman was not an easy task. He had always been confident around women, but even he had some qualms about how to go about talking with her about such an important issue.

"Undercover?"she asked, "Or under the covers?"

Her words helped to solidify his confidence in her attraction to him, while simultaneously annoying him even further.

"And, there it is again. The little green-eyed monster makes an appearance."

Deeks' words had a bit more of an edge to them than he had intended, but he was starting to get frustrated that she refused to see that she was acting ridiculous.

It was clear from her response, she was offended. He tried to backpedal, but she was having none of it. As she stormed off, he quickly followed. Although she accused him of having poor communication, clearly she was not so great at it herself.

It was a spur of the moment response, but as soon as he stood up, he knew what he had to do—no, desperately wanted to do. Attraction, frustration and determination finally won out, and as she climbed onto the bike, ranting angrily, he captured her lips firmly with his. This really was not how he had pictured this moment, but it was still jolting enough to leave them both breathless. Her lovely mismatched eyes were wide with surprise as he pulled away. He was still aggravated but glad that he had finally taken the leap, despite the consequences.

"How's that for communication?" he roughly asked his stunned partner.

Waiting for an answer, searching her eyes for the truth, he licked his lips, tasting her once more for just a fleeting second. When she had no reply to his kiss or question, he was hurt. Who was terrible at communication now? Her flustered indication that she had to follow Michelle was clearly just a halfhearted attempt to escape his penetrating gaze.

He loved her so desperately, but at the same time, she was so hard for him to understand. He hoped that once she had time to process what had just occurred, she would come back to talk more. It had all happened so quickly, as he crouched to continue surveillance, he too, was still trying to figure out exactly what had just occurred. The one thing he was sure of was that he wanted to hold her, kiss her slowly and sweetly, and not have to about how it would affect their partnership and their friendship.