a/n:Hey y'all!

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of visiting Los Angeles for the first time. How beautiful of a city. I'm still so not over it.

The whole trip revamped my love for NCIS LA. I haven't been around here for a while (but I have kept up with all my favorite fic updates!) but seeing the city had me all kinds of inspired. I have a list of LA inspired drabbles I want to write based on my own adventures in the city. The writers always say LA is a character in the show. I hope you guys will like them!

The title of this fic 'LA on your break' is the secret message in Taylor Swift's song "That Last Time." Obviously, LA on your break is my catch phrase for the whole experience.

This first one doubles as my post-hallway-halfway-proposal story. You know what I'm talking about.

1. Santa Monica

Monty leads him through the front door of their home on a sunny summer mid Sunday morning. He hears music flowing through the house from somewhere, and upon unhooking Monty from his leash, he allows his ears to trace the sound back to Kensi's phone, which is sitting on the kitchen table. Its a telltale sign that while he and Monty were out on their morning stroll, his sleeping beauty had woken up and was up and about for the day.

He looks around for her, taking a few steps toward the kitchen. He sees her then, as he peeks around the corner. He watches as she throws together her version of breakfast. While she'd be content to gulf down a donut or two or a dozen, his breakfasts have grown on her over the last few months. And while she can't even begin to make him pancakes or smorescakes and all the other creations he's come up with, she does take the opportunity to chop up some fresh fruit and put out some granola and yogurt. He hears the toast pop up out of the toaster, and peeks his head around the corner again to see her jamming and dancing around their kitchen to her techno music. She's barefoot, wearing a white tee shirt adorned in the back with a little peek of lace on the back and little black crochet knit shorts. Her hair is half up and half down, but curled as usual. Everything about the scene that's playing out in front of him is so undeniably her- the woman he fell in love with- that he just can't stand it.

He steps out of the shadow, making himself visible to her in the kitchen and walks toward her. She looks up upon placing their toast on plates and reaching for a butter knife to spread jelly across the bread.

"Hey baby," she says, pushing up on her tip toes to plant a sweet kiss upon his cheek.

He reaches out, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her towards him. Leaning in, he captures her lips for a more proper kiss, and afterwards rests his forehead against hers. "Good morning."

Her cheeks were turning just a little bit pink, and he really kind of adored the effect he had on her, despite it being 110 percent reciprocated.

"Good morning," she whispered back.

He slid his hands down to wrap around them around her waist, and she matched his movements.

He'd known since the day in the hallway at the office, and honestly, he'd known before that, that they were forever. That the day would come that he would propose, she would say yes, and they would be engaged. He'd introduce her to people as his fiancé, and soon thereafter, she would call him her husband.

There wasn't a sense of urgency after their talk in the hallway. He didn't feel like he had to propose right away. Despite their unpredictable lives, he felt like they had all the time in the world. But looking at her this morning, watching her as she danced around in the kitchen and seeing the pink in her cheeks after their breathtaking kiss, he knew today was the day. With the thought of the ring he'd bought a month ago, he was confident that it was time. He'd propose today.

"Got any plans this afternoon?" he asked.

She glanced over at the toast, granola, fruit and yogurt on the counter. "Food."

He smiled. "I meant after the food. We both know you aren't waiting until this afternoon for food."

"Not really."

"You up for going out?"

"Sure, where to?"

"Santa Monica."

She paused. "Isn't it a little late for a surf?"

"Yeah, that wasn't what I had in mind."

She raised her eyebrows at him, questioning his intentions.

He shrugged. "Thought we could stroll the pier, I could buy you some ice cream since there's no way this fruit is going to be sweet enough for you. And then we could walk on the beach, and I was thinking about proposing too. "

She definitely heard that last part. He could see it in the way her eyes widened, how she seemed to stand up a little bit straighter. But she didn't say anything to him in response, but to look at him and nod. "Okay. You better have a ring this time."

She knew his plans, she knew his intentions. There was no backing out, no change in plans. No games then. All in.

It was a strange strategy, but what wasn't strange about them. After all, his .5 proposal did happen in the hallway at work. Without a ring, she likes to remind him.

The pier was stunning as always. The sun was bright and warm, but a nice warm and salty breeze kept it comfortable in Los Angeles terms. His hand was interlocked with hers, dangling down between them like a light weight. They swung their arms gently as they walked, enjoying and basking in the atmosphere as they traveled down the boardwalk.

She stopped and looked at a few pair of sunglasses, and sincerely thought about buying the white rimmed pair she'd had her eye on when Deeks offered up the ice cream, and she was surely ready for that. As they drifted farther down the pier, she felt her heart rate casually increase.

It was a bit strange knew that right now, he was her boyfriend. But just an ice cream cone and a walk on the beach from now, he'd be her fiancé. Why he told her that, she wouldn't know. But frankly, she didn't care.

As the late afternoon turned into evening, they stepped off of the pier and out towards the sand. She slipped out of her sandals and hooked the straps around her pinkie finger, not missing a beat in connecting their hands back together.

As they walked, they chatted. About the days after they first met, their favorite memories together, their longest nights, their earliest mornings. They'd survived a lot, both together and apart. And in this moment, it was if one was the other's reward. Despite knowing his plan from the start, something about their talk had distracted her and made her forget. Because by the time they had walked far enough away from all the other beach goers and he got down on one knee right above the Pacific's edge, she found herself just a little bit surprised.

She smiled down at him, almost hiding her smile with her palm, but he reached out and grabbed for her hand to stop that. She felt herself giggling. She looked up for just a second, over the enchanting California coast to bring her heart rate down. Before she could look back at him, she saw a shallow wave begin to roll up against the shore.

"Deeks…" she began, but it was too late. It crashed at his legs, the water cool against his skin. The salty water soaked the ends of his shorts as the water pooled around her feet.

He sighed. "Proposals are just never going to be our thing, are they?"

She shrugged. But his eyes looked deflated, so she lowered herself to eye level with him, allowing herself to also become encased in the water. She pulled her sandals into her lap to keep them dry. "But I don't care how I'm proposed to, as long as it's by you."

He could feel himself grin. "Except not in the hallway at work without a ring."

She nodded. "I think that one little stipulation was managable."

His drive was back. "Lucky for us, I have a ring this time." He pulled the little blue box open toward her, allowing her a glance at the ring.

She'd made a big deal out of the whole ring thing, but frankly, just about any ring he'd picked for would have been perfect. It was just icing on the cake that the ring he happened to have picked (or meticulously stressed over picking for more like half of a year) was stunning.

"Deeks, its…" she wanted to tell him it was beautiful, perfect, more than what she ever could have wanted, but he stopped her.

"Kens, trying to propose here. I think I can still salvage it." He was smiling, so it wasn't disheartening. Another small wave crashed against their feet, but by now, it was ineffective. "I love you. God, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Gently, he took the ring out of the box, careful not to drop it. "Kensi Marie Blye, will you marry me?"

There wasn't a beat between his proposal and her yes. She gently lifted her hand to him, and he slipped the ring onto her finger. Using her hand to grab onto his shoulder, she steadied herself against his frame, and softly kissed his lips.

Afterwards, she grabbed his hand and stood. "Now, let's get out of this water because my legs are freezing and I'm absolutely paranoid my ring's going to get lost in the ocean."

He laughed, the adrenaline still coursing through him. He may shoot bad guys for a living, but asking Kensi Blye to marry him was probably still one of the most terrifying- albeit rewarding- things he's ever done.

As he felt the sand beneath his feet and the cool metal of her ring against his fingers, something greater than him was forged. This was it. This was the rest of his life.

And it was looking pretty wonderful.