Ellie x Nick Oneshots

Rule 18

Nick was convinced that Ellie would be angry with him, maybe even furious.
That seemed to be inevitable.
But he was to blame himself, so he just had to man up and tell her.

Yeah. That would be best...
That's what Nick told himself as he turned the key in the lock and set foot in their apartment.
He immediately spotted Ellie's blonde head peeking out over the backrest of the couch.

Nick wondered if she was asleep since she didn't seem to have noticed him yet, when she didn't turn her head around to look at him.
Walking up to her, trying to be as quiet as possible, Nick walked around the couch to see that his assumption had been right.
Ellie's eyes were closed, she was breathing peacefully, in a slightly hunched position on the couch.

He carefully sat down beside her and gently jolted her awake.
Nick was of the opinion that he should really tell her about what he did sooner rather than later, before she somehow found out herself or was told by one of their co-workers...
Besides, if he let her sleep the food he had brought as appeasement would get cold and lose its purpose, because there were certain kinds of food that Ellie disliked cold or warmed up in the microwave, and pizza was one of them.

He might want to add here that he would prefer she ate healthier food rather than fast food, especially right now in her condition, but so far, he wasn't able to convince her of that.

After a few seconds, Ellie sleepily blinked her eyes open.
''Hey, you're back'' she murmured while stretching her arms.

''Yeah, and I brought food.''
That instantly caused Ellie to jump up from the couch.
''Great! I'm starving.''

They both ate their pizza in silence, and once the food was eaten up, Nick figured he had no more reason to delay telling Ellie.
He just hoped that his plan would prove to be successful, that Ellie would be less angry now that he'd fed her.

Clearing his throat, which made Ellie focus her attention all on Nick, he started speaking.
''Listen, Ellie...'' Ellie frowned slightly, not sure what to expect after these particular words, but didn't interrupt him.
''You remember how we said we were gonna keep your pregnancy a secret for a while longer? Until we both agree the time is right to tell everyone...'' he slowly started, causing suspicion to rise in Ellie.
In a wary tone of voice, her eyes narrowed and brows pulled together, she said ''Yes...?'', drawing out the word.
Considering his words, she was smart enough to already guess what was gonna come out of his mouth next, and as soon as he said it, she was proven right.

''I told McGee...and Jack...and maybe also Kasie, Jimmy and Ducky...'' he admitted reluctantly.
Gibbs and Vance were the only ones that had known already.

''Nick!'' her very loud exclamation of his name resulted in him cringing a little, knowing he screwed up.
''We promised each other we wouldn't tell anyone without asking for the other's approval first! How could you?!'' Ellie was seriously angry, her obviously displeased tone made that clear.
Not only had he told their friends sooner than they had agreed upon, but he also revealed their secret without her being there.

''Can I invoke rule 18 here and ask for your forgiveness?'' Nick questioned after a moment of silence between the two, in which Nick had carefully thought about what to say next, knowing he shouldn't say the wrong thing, especially because of Ellie's hormones.

Ellie frowned even more at that.
He usually didn't really care much about rules, had no aversion to breaking them, but once they come in handy and are convenient, he uses them anyhow to get out of an argument?
She wouldn't let him get away with that.

Seeing that Ellie still had an angry expression on her face, Nick chose a different approach to try and get her to forgive him after all.
''C'mon Ellie, I know I should have had your permission first, but I didn't plan to spill the beans, I just... in that situation, it just felt right. They were all bombarding me with questions about why you didn't come to work today, and when I told them that you weren't feeling well they all started getting super worried, so I just had to tell them that it's because you're pregnant,'' he intensely explained, a desperate look on his face.
He was somewhat of a maverick at times, yes, -or at least had been- but he had come to deeply care about his NCIS family, so he didn't want to see them worried when there was nothing to worry about.
Nick was sure his distress was also quite detectable in his voice, that it almost sounded whiny, in desperate need for her forgiveness.

Nick could deal with getting very little sleep for a long period of time, could endure being hit, could bear many gruesome things.
Ellie being angry and disappointed with him wasn't one of them.

Ellie contemplated all the possibilities she had.
Option number 1, she could just forgive him, and they both would spend a nice evening together, but he wouldn't learn a lesson from this occurrence.
Option number 2, she could stay angry with him and ignore him for a while until he saw that despite Gibbs' rule, what he had done hadn't been right, though then their evening would be ruined, and possibly also the next day depending on how long she was gonna take until she forgave him.
Option number 3, she could forgive him under certain conditions, ask for something in return for her forgiveness, something that would make him eventually regret having blurted out the secret about her pregnancy, so that he'd draw a lesson from this, and then they'd still be able to enjoy their evening.

She decided on the latter possibility.

Standing up from her chair, she walked closer to him until she was standing right in front of Nick.
''All right. I forgive you...but-'' she underlined the last word, ''you have to make it up to me,'' she stated.

Nick gazed at the expression on her face, that expression that he'd seen countless times before, just like the night their baby had been conceived.

So, when she sat down on his lap after her words, slung her arms loosely around his neck, he didn't anticipate what she said next.

''Until this baby is born, you're gonna do whatever I ask of you. That includes driving to the store, no matter what time, to buy whatever I crave and you're also gonna cook me whatever I want, whenever I want, no matter how disgusting you think it is, understand?'' Ellie sternly told him, to make sure that he understood.
Nick didn't dare point out that her cooking skills sucked,- that she had almost burned the kitchen down countless times- even when that thought came to his mind.

After his brain had actually registered what the condition for her forgiving him was, he gasped slightly, his jaw dropping.
''But considering how much you eat that's all I'm gonna be doing for like the next seven months,'' he loudly complained, though at the look she gave him,- one eyebrow raised, lips turned downwards- he decided it was better to shut up.

''So yes or no?''

''With the look you gave me earlier I thought you were implying something completely different when you talked about making it up to you...'' Nick mumbled unhappily, making Ellie grin for a second.

''Do you agree to my terms or not, Nick?'' she insisted he answer that question.
Sighing exaggeratedly, Nick said '' I don't have much of a choice, do I?'' and then, -just to be clear- answered her request in the affirmative.

''Good,'' Ellie replied, a smug smile on her lips as she tightened her arms around his neck and leaned closer to place her lips on his, pulling him into a kiss.

Nick was surprised about that turn, but nevertheless returned the kiss eagerly, and it soon turned into a passionate and open-mouthed kiss.

Once they pulled apart, he looked at the blonde in confusion.
Ellie tilted her head to the side, the corner of her mouth drawn upwards, and gave a little shrug.

''Now that that's settled, I'd say we enjoy the rest of our evening,'' she simply told him with a knowing and promising smile, causing him to grin before he pulled her in for a kiss once again.