Disclaimer: I don't own Rush.

After finishing up for the day, the team are getting ready to go home back at base.

"See you at 8." Stella says to Shannon as she walks out of the room.

"Hanging out with Stella tonight are you?" Lawson asks as this is news to him and he packs his belongings into his bag.

"Well you're seeing Josh tonight."? She says defensively as the rest of the team head out.

"Sounds like someone is jealous." Lawson says while raising an eyebrow at her.

"No I'm not jealous, you guys have fun tonight, I know I will." Shannon says with a small smirk appearing on her face.

Picking up his bag he then proceeds to bend down and gives her a quick kiss before saying "Have fun, don't stay out too late."

"Same goes to you." She says with a laugh as she watches him walk out of base.

Sitting in a restaurant on a quiet street in the cbd, Lawson thinks of a way to broach the topic that is on his mind with Josh.

"So why are we having dinner tonight, we have been pulling a lot of night shifts lately and doubles, I thought you would want to spend time with Shan." Josh says with a hint of curiosity.

"Sorry, did Tash want you home tonight?" Lawson asks.

"Nah she has night shift tonight and Minka is at a friend's place, I was just curious that's all." Josh says.

"I need to ask you for your opinion on something and I can't ask you at work with everyone around, I can't trust any of them to keep their mouths shut." Lawson says.

"Okay you got my attention, now I am intrigued." Josh says curiously.

"I want to propose to Shan." Lawson says with a small smile on his face.

"It's about bloody time mate; you've only been together for what, almost three years now." Josh says happy that his mate is finally about to take the plunge.

"I don't know whether I should just do it as a small proposal or go all out and take her out and do the grand proposal, I know Shannon is more into the simple things, but I'm not sure with the proposal aspect of things." Lawson says nervously.

"Look your nervous already, you got nothing to worry about, she is going to say yes, I know Shannon, she loves you mate, you dated for a year and you guys moved in together just after that, go for the simple gesture." Josh said knowingly.

"Well I got her two rings, a simple band to wear at work, and then a proper engagement ring for when we aren't at work, but still relatively simple, what do you think?" Lawson asked as he pulled out the two boxes and showed Josh the rings.

Taking a look at both of the rings, Josh nods approvingly before saying "Good choice."

"I've been thinking about it for the past couple of months but after that scare when she fell over the balcony of that building, it made me realise that I don't want to lose any more time waiting around." Lawson says putting the rings back into his pockets.

"Fair enough, just don't screw it up or hurt her mate, you screw her around you will have me and the team to deal with." Josh says seriously.

"I know, I have heard this speech more than once from each and every one of you before." Lawson says.

"When are you going to do it?" Josh asks.

" A week from now on our third anniversary." Lawson says.

"Good luck mate." Josh says clinking his beer glass against Lawson's feeling happy at the fact that two of his best mates would be getting married, he had no doubt about it.

….

Hitting a club in the cbd, Shannon and Stella wait near the start of the line.

"Oh Michael may be coming past later with Leon." Stella says looking over at Shannon.

"Cool." Shannon says distractedly.

"Alright what's on your mind, don't tell me you rather be at home with Lawson." Stella says mockingly.

"God no, I have needed his girls night out for a while now." Shannon says as the line starts to move slowly.

"What's up then?" She asks her friend.

"Our third anniversary is coming up and Lawson won't tell me what he has planned, I just want to know what it is." Shannon says sounding slightly annoyed.

"You really don't like surprises do you?" Stella asks noticing the pained expression that is starting to form on Shannon's face.

"No I don't and you should know that by now." Shannon says seeing the amused expression on Stella's face.

"Look, I don't know what he has planned for you, but I am sure it will be great, it's Lawson, he would be putting a lot of thought into it so the best thing to do right now is to let your hair down and just relax, have some fun with me tonight, have a couple of drinks and just dance." Stella says as they reach the door.

"I guess you're right." Shannon says trying to shake the thoughts from her mind as she enters the club with Stella.

….

Having had enough fun at the club with Stella followed by drinking and dancing some more when Leon and Michael had turned up, Shannon had checked her phone to discover it was 1am and she had a couple of smses from Lawson, the last one being at midnight telling her he hoped she was having fun and that he was heading to bed. Feeling guilty that she had missed the smses and hoping that he hadn't gone to sleep worried, Shannon stumbled out of the club with Leon in tow to hail a cab as Leon thought it would be wise if she had someone with her.

As the cab had pulled up outside their house, Shannon paid the fair and thanked Leon before stumbling out of the cab and up to the front door. The taxi driver waited patiently until Leon saw her manage to finally find her keys and then struggle to get the keys into the door, once she got inside she waved them off and tried her hardest to close the door quietly.

Slowly walking down the corridor running her hand along the wall for balance in case she stumbled over, Shannon walked into the bathroom and then proceeded to slowly walk into the room and saw Lawson lying on her side of the bed hugging her pillow. Smiling at the sight, Shannon let go of the wall to slowly go get her pyjamas but ended up tripping over and smacking into the drawers instead.

Cussing quietly, she grabs her pyjamas and slowly gets up hoping that Lawson hasn't woken up. Seeing him in the same position, she slowly gets dressed and starts to head back out of the room.

"Oi, where are you off to?" she hears Lawson ask clearly.

"I'm going to sleep on the couch, go back to sleep, sorry I woke you." She said standing at the door.

"No, come sleep here please, I'm glad you woke me so I can see that you got home safely." He says rolling over to his side and waiting for her to get in.

"I drank a fair bit, I may be sick in the morning and taste like alcohol even though I just brushed my teeth." She says and he can tell she is drunk.

"That's okay, I don't care if you smell, so long as you're with me." He says wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closely to himself.

"I love you." She says with a smile on her face.

"I love you too Shan, did you have a fun night?" he asks.

"Hmm." She says closing her eyes and resting her head onto his chest falling asleep instantly.

Wrapping his arms around her tighter, Lawson hopes this is the way it will always be with them, her safe in his arms and them being happy.

One week later.

Having finished up their shift for the day, the all start to get ready.

"Hey Shannon, I need your help with something." Josh says.

"What is it?" she asked pulling on her boots.

"It's at my place." Josh said not giving anything away.

"Can it wait till tomorrow?" She asked.

"Not really." Josh says as the others listen in to the conversation.

"It's okay Shan, you have two hours till you need to get ready so we can go, I'm sure it won't take that long." Lawson says.

"Alright, so long as it doesn't take too long." Shannon says.

"It shouldn't, and I will make sure you get home on time." Josh says as they head out.

"See you soon." Shannon says to Lawson as she gets to the door.

Getting to Josh's house, Shannon gets out of the car and walks to the front door where they are greeted by Minka, who gets a nod from Josh.

"Oh thank god you're here, I need some help organising my stuff for the deb tomorrow night." Minka says dragging Shannon into the house.

"Cant your mum or Josh help you?" Shannon asks.

"Well mum is working tonight so she is out of the question, and can you honestly say you would trust Josh's advice on accessories and the way to wear my hair and makeup, his not the brightest tool in the shed in that department." Minka says.

"Fair enough, where shall we start?" Shannon asks following Minka into her room.

….

Pulling up at their house, Josh turns in his seat and says "Thanks for your help, we really appreciate it, sorry if we delayed your plans."

"I don't even know what the plans are." Shannon says her face instantly turning to a worried concern.

"I'm sure you will enjoy it, just enjoy it, have a good night." Josh says winking at her and almost pushing her out of the car.

….

Walking into their house, Shannon sees beer, pizza and a laptop sitting on the living room table, bringing back memories of the first couple of weeks when they had started dating. Smiling at this she dropped her bag down just as Lawson walked into the room.

"Hey did you get it all sorted?" He asked after he gave her a kiss.

"Yeah I did, what's with this?" she asked following him while gesturing to the table.

"I thought we would make this night a simple one, but special at the same time, this should bring back some memories, it certainly does for Me." he says with a cheeky smile and opening a beer and passing it to her followed by some pizza.

Smiling at the gesture, Shannon says "It's perfect."

Smiling Lawson digs into his pizza while drinking his beer, smiling at how content Shannon looked.

After they had finished he put the empty glasses and cardboard into the bin before coming back and taking his seat next to Shannon.

"Alright, so what is next on tonight's agenda?" Shannon says crossing her legs on the couch.

"I thought we could take a walk down memory lane." Lawson says with a smile.

"Sounds like a plan to me." She says with a smile.

Feeling reassured, Lawson presses play on the cd that they had gotten off Michael and had been put away in their bedroom.

Seeing them having sex for the first time at the investment property, Shannon can't help but smile at what she is seeing.

Stopping the disc, Lawson grabs her hands in his and looks into his eyes.

"Shannon, I had many ideas of how I wanted to do this but I wanted it to be special and mean something to the both of us, so I thought we could go back to when it all began, I know you like the simple things in life, and I love you for it, I can't help but fall in love with you more and more as time goes on, I know that sounds cheesy but it is so true, even though you can be infuriating at times, your stubborn, determined, your laughter is infectious as well as your smile, you make me the happiest guy that I have ever been and I never want that to change, I want to wake up with you in my arms and go to sleep with you in my arms, so what I am getting at is, Shannon will you marry me?" Lawson says getting down on one knee and pulling out the ring.

Processing what was just said and seeing Lawson there on one knee holding out a simple yet stunning ring, Shannon is at a complete loss of words so she just nods her head.

"Is that a yes?" Lawson asks nervously.

Letting out a laugh, Shannon nods her head vigoursly and says "Yes, my answer is yes."

Smiling from ear to ear, Lawson gets up off the floor and slides the ring onto her finger and they both realise that is definitely where the ring was meant to be.

"I also have a separate ring for you to wear at work." Lawson says before giving her a passionate and lingering kiss.

Breathing heavily Shannon says "Thanks babe."

"How about we celebrate this?" he asks and she nods her head again.

Pulling her up, Lawson starts to kiss her as he slowly takes off her clothes while he walks her to their bedroom.

Pulling away as they enter the bedroom, she says with a big smile "Best anniversary and surprise ever," before she places her lips back onto his.