Ellick "Painless"

Chapter 10- An Explanation

Ellie's POV:

He's just looking at us. Standing there, spying, like a total creep!

"What do you want?" I ask angrily. "Did you finally think of a comeback? Or do you want to judge us in public now?"

I do feel bad about what I said, but he was just as bad. And it's not like either of us are going to apologize.

"I just want to talk." He answers.

"I don't feel like talking. Do you, Ellie?" Nick replies in mock curious voice.

"No, Nick. I don't. Oh well." Nick and I stand, facing Gibbs.

"You're my team. The only family I've got. And if you two go off and start a family, I lose part of mine. I already lost Tony and Ziva. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you two. That's no excuse. Just an explanation."

No one says anything, and I feel my frustration changing. I don't know what I feel anymore. Still annoyed, definitely. But there's something else too.

"Clearly there's... stuff... between you two. I don't want to lose my team. But I can't stop you from being happy. You're going to have a family either way, so I might as well support you."

Nick looks at me, as if unsure how to proceed. I, however, know exactly what to say.

"What family?"

"You're kid. The one you're pregnant with."

"What?!" Nick and I exclaim at the same time, and my hands fly to my stomach.

Talking to myself, I mumble

"It was just one extra slice. I didn't think it made me look pregnant!"

"You don't look pregnant." Nick assures me.

"Who told you she was pregnant?" Our argument momentarily fades from our minds.

"You did, Torres."

I gawk at Nick, who looks utterly bewildered.

"I never said that!"

"Yes you did!" Gibbs snaps back. "You said 'our kid'."

"No he didn't!" I tell Gibbs, annoyed that he's lying to my face. I turn to Nick and I notice his ears turning red.

"You didn't, right?"

"I'm not the one on trial here!" He yells, rattled.

My face contorted in confusion, I watch him but turn back to Gibbs.

"I'm not pregnant, and I'm not interested in hearing your apologies."

"I did not apologize!" Gibbs points out, emphasizing that fact and giving me a look.

I shake my head and begin to walk away, Nick on my heels.

"I'm not done talking to you!" He jogs behind us and Nick and I begin running.

The distance begins to lengthen and by the time we exit the graveyard we can't see him anymore.

"Great." Nick says.

"We're going to have to talk to him eventually." I pant slightly.

"Eventually. What do you want to do?" We begin walking down the sidewalk and he takes my hand.

"I don't know. What time is it?"

"3:30"

I sigh. "I guess eventually is sooner rather than later."

"Why?" He looks at me, confused.

"We can't just skip work. I shouldn't have stormed out. It's going to be humiliating going back. And if they all think I'm pregnant?!"

"They probably think I'm the father, too."

"What was that about anyway? Did you really say I was pregnant?" I can't decide if I'm annoyed or not. It's kind of a big thing to lie about, but I really like Nick.

"Not... exactly. It's kind of complicated."

"Tell me. I can help."

"It's, it's not important." He gives me a fake reassuring smile, then looks back to the ground uncomfortably as we turn the corner.

We walk hand-in-hand to the navy yard, where he holds the door and we board the elevator. Halfway up, I press the button and it stops moving.

"It'll be okay. Maybe Gibbs isn't back yet." Nick smiles, and I feel myself losing concentration as I stare into his eyes.

"El?"

"Right! Sorry. I um, I just needed to take a second. You know, to... process everything, I guess. It's a lot to take in." I close my eyes and let everything sink in.

"I mean, the whole office thinks I'm pregnant, I smacked Gibbs, and I can do this without getting in trouble."

I take his head and pull him towards me,
kissing him on his lips, practically feeling the electricity between us. His face leans against mine as he firmly kisses me back. Somehow, I end up against the elevator wall with his hands on my hips, mine on his chest.

"Ready?" He asks, pulling away.

"Ready as I'll ever be. So no."

"We'll be fine. Just relax."

Starting the elevator again, we stand in the center and wait for the doors to open.
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