Disclaimer – I don't own Jared's, NCIS:LA or any of its characters. So not fair….

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Chapter 1

To say Marty Deeks was frustrated would be an understatement. He was beyond frustrated. He'd been trying to get Nell alone all day. Every time he thought he was home free, either Eric or Kensi showed up. He would swear that their significant others had some kind of radar that went off when the two of them were in proximity to each other. He'd been back to work fulltime for several weeks now and was finally feeling like it was time to move forward. He'd been working with Nate on his feelings about his abduction and torture and felt he was in a really good place. He'd talked it over with the psychologist, who'd been supportive and happy for them both. He'd agreed that Deeks was over the worst of it but had extracted a promise that he would keep up with his therapy sessions with the doctor Nate had recommended when he'd been given another assignment out of the country.

Laura had texted to say that she'd set up an appointment for them with her jeweler for a week from Saturday and now he needed to be sure Nell didn't make any plans. He couldn't text her, Eric always peeked over her shoulder whenever she got one and she didn't seem to mind. In fact she thought it was cute. And there was no way he was letting Eric in on this. Kensi would know within minutes. She'd just have to look at him funny and he'd spill his guts. He thought about emailing Nell to meet him somewhere alone but that just felt creepy and he wasn't going to put it in writing on the NCIS server. Damn.

He sighed and kept working on his laptop, one eye on the staircase up to ops, watching for Nell to appear. Across the bullpen, Kensi was eying him. She hadn't missed the fact that something was going on with her partner/boyfriend and that something had to do with Nell. She'd made it a point to follow Deeks whenever Nell was around, hoping to catch them in whatever they were doing. When the woman in question came down the stairs with an armful of folders, Kensi watched as he ever so nonchalantly got up, grabbed a random folder off his desk and followed the redhead towards the burn room. She frowned and decided to wait a few minutes before doing some following of her own.

Nell opened the door to the burn room, not realizing Deeks was right on her heels. He almost scared the hell out of her when he entered behind her, then shut and locked the door. "Um, well, hey there Deeks. What'cha doing?" Nell eyed the locked door in confusion.

"I've been trying to get you alone all day but Eric and Kensi keep popping up!"

"Alone? Why would you want to get me alone?" Nell backed up a little, kind of freaked out by an uncharacteristically intense Deeks. She knew better but couldn't stop the little frisson of alarm that ran through her as she began to edge her way around the detective to get to the door.

"I wanted to ask you something. Something important."

"Oh, yeah, okay? Why here?" She continued to move around him.

"This was the first time you were alone where I can keep them out for a few minutes."

"Deeks, you know Kensi is my best friend and that I consider you a good friend as well? You remember I'm with Eric, right?"

Deeks looked at her in confusion and, when he realized what she was implying, burst into laughter, causing Nell to forget her quest for the door and to put her hands on her hips, asking "Just what is so funny about that?"

"Nell, Velma, I love you…like a sister. I can't believe you thought I followed you in here to…do what exactly?" Now he was finding himself somewhat offended.

"I thought you were going to…never mind, it's not important. What is important is why you cornered me in here."

Deeks blushed and wasn't sure where to start so just blurted it out. "I want you to go with Laura and me to her jewelers a week from Saturday and help me design a ring for Kensi! It's at 11, can you make it?"

"A ring?" It took a second and then Nell squealed and jumped into his arms. "You're going to propose? You're going to propose to Kensi!"

Deeks laughed and put his arms around her, swinging her around as well as he could in the small room, both of them laughing with joy. "Yup, I am and as Kensi's best friend I'd really appreciate it if you'd give me your input. Once we settle on a couple designs, I'm planning on having all the girls look at them and help me pick the perfect one for her." He put her back down. Nell's eyes filled up and she sniffled. "What's the matter Nellasauros?" She was reacting just like Laura had so he had a fairly good idea.

"One, that's sooo romantic and two, I'm so honored that you asked me!"

Deeks grinned at her and asked "So you'll do it?"

She slugged him in the shoulder and said "What do you think Shaggy?" They were grinning goofily at each other when they heard a scratching at the door. Someone was picking the lock. They looked at the door and back at each other, knowing full well who was on the other side. Deeks winked at her, whispered "I told you!" and folded his arms across his chest, facing the door. Nell chuckled and mirrored his pose. The lock snicked open and Kensi catapulted into the room, stopping short at the sight of the two of them waiting for her.

Taking the offensive, she asked "Which one of you wants to explain what you're both doing in the burn room with the door locked?"

Nell looked at her innocently and said "I always lock the door when I have a large number of classified documents to burn. Deeks just happened to come in behind me and got stuck until I was done."

Kensi narrowed her eyes at her friend and then looked at her boyfriend, catching a smirk on his face that quickly disappeared, to be replaced with an over done "who me?" look. She didn't believe either one of them but couldn't figure out what was going on. Her birthday wasn't for months nor was their anniversary. She opened her mouth and closed it, not sure what to ask or how to ask it, without sounding jealous and suspicious, only one of which she was. Instead she settled for a harrumph and flounced back out the door, heading back to the bullpen. Deeks and Nell looked at each other and started laughing again, the sound carrying to Kensi as she walked away. She almost turned back to demand they tell her what they were up to but then decided not to give them the satisfaction. Her unrequited curiosity made her grumpy the rest of the day; she was a Leo after all.

Back in the burn room, once they got their laughter under control, Nell voiced her concern about how the team and their bosses were going to react. She worried that they would break up the team and that, in her mind, would be a huge mistake. Their team was one of the elite and busting them up would be disastrous for NCIS in general and OSP in particular. Deeks related the story of how he'd asked Sam and Callen for their permission, both of them saying yes, getting Nell to giggle at his descriptions, complete with hand waving. When he added that Hetty and Granger had been within earshot during the conversation and that they had both indicated they would back him up, Nell teared up again, relieved that her worries were for nothing. Then she asked "What did Kensi's mom say?"

Deeks shuffled his feet and didn't say anything. "Deeks? You did talk to Kensi's mom, right? If you talked to Sam, Callen, Hetty and Granger then you need to be sure you talk to Julia as well."

"I know, I know! For some reason I'm more worried about that than anything else. I know Julia likes me but I worry about whether she thinks I'm good enough for her daughter to marry."

Nell got indignant on his behalf. "Why in the world wouldn't she think that? You two are made for each other and I doubt anyone believes otherwise. Deeks, I saw her in the hospital when you were in the ICU. Her concern was for you, not for how the situation impacted Kensi. She loves you and she knows you're the best thing that ever happened to her daughter." She slugged him in the shoulder again, letting him know how silly she thought his concerns were.

The two conspirators firmed up their plans on when to meet, with Deeks sending Nell the address to her phone and getting her readily made promise not to tell Eric a thing. While she loved the man to distraction, she knew that he wouldn't be able to withstand a Kensi Marie Blye interrogation. What he didn't know, he couldn't tell and wouldn't hurt him. They exited the room together and went their separate ways.

When Deeks sat back down at his desk, he found he couldn't concentrate. His mind kept wandering to the future, picturing different scenarios, all of which presumed Kensi said yes. He refused to contemplate any other outcome, knowing if it was anything other than yes, he'd be blindsided. The pictures in his mind always seemed to include a miniature blue eyed, brunette version of Kensi and a blonde version of himself. He would find himself smiling dreamily into space, much to the annoyance of the rest of his team.

When Sam had to say his name for the third time when they were deciding on what to do for lunch, the ex-Seal had poked him in the shoulder, none too gently and asked "What's going on over there Shaggy? You surfing somewhere in your mind?"

Deeks simply grinned at him and shook his head no. He looked over at Kensi's desk to find it empty. He wasn't sure where his partner had gone, hadn't even noticed her leave the bullpen. "Where's Kensi?" He asked, instead of answering Sam's question.

Sam shook his head in disgust and looked over at Callen who shrugged. "She went to the firing range about 20 minutes ago. She told all of us where she was going. Where the hell have you been all day? It certainly isn't here with us!"

Looking around one last time, he swallowed hard and said in a low voice. "I'm going ring shopping with Laura and Nell the Saturday after next. I'm going to have a jeweler design an engagement ring for Kensi."

Sam looked shocked for a moment and then smiled widely. "It's about time Deeks! You asked us ages ago! What have you been waiting for?"

Deeks raised an eyebrow and cocked his head at Sam who momentarily looked horrified as he realized what he'd said. Scrambling he said "I mean, I expected…I thought…" He couldn't continue, not sure how to dig himself out of the hole he'd dug for himself.

Callen shook his head and joined the conversation. "What he means to say, Deeks, is that we're both very happy for you and glad you're ready to take this next step."

"Oh, is that what he meant?" Deeks grinned at Sam who realized he was being teased and grinned back. He really was happy for his teammates and found himself looking forward to being able to tease the two of them about their engagement. He wondered who would be asked to walk Kensi down the aisle and who would be Deeks's best man. He opened his mouth to ask something along those lines when they heard Kensi coming down the hall from the firing range. He snapped it shut and studiously went back to his paperwork, completely forgetting about lunch.

When Kensi sat down at her desk, she sensed that whatever Deeks had been up to with Nell had now been expanded to include the guys. She didn't even bother to ask, knowing that neither one of them would give Deeks up and not wanting to give them the satisfaction of asking and being denied. She picked up the paperwork she'd left when deciding she was bored and wanted a distraction in the guise of shooting up paper suspects. She kept her eye on Deeks and saw the same dreamy expression on his face from earlier. As she watched him, she found herself smiling at him. There was something contagious about his expression, even if she didn't know what put it there.