Chapter 1
As Harry watched his girlfriend work he knew what he was going to ask her later tonight was the right thing to do, the logical thing to do, to prove how much he loved her. As she performed the autopsy on an Asian male he watched her work, he admired the way she moved, the way she did what she was supposed to do correctly and cleanly. He leant against the glass just watching his girlfriend work, listening to her words. His sight kept flickering to the officer who was also watching and listening to Nikki as well.
When Harry looked at the clock to see the time he knew he had to leave to prepare for later. He waited until Nikki and the officer had silenced before he declared he was leaving,
"Nikki, I'm off, I'll see you at home at 7ish right?" he asked her through the intercom which allowed the people watching the autopsy in the observation room to communicate with the person carrying it out in the lab. Nikki, who was holding a lung in her hand, looked up at the glass separating her and her boyfriend and smiled at him as the officer looked on at them both,
"Yes, I should be home by then, are we going out?" she frowned a little knowing Harry hardly ever asked when she'd be home because they either finished at the same time or just waited for the other to get home. Harry nodded before grinning at her, a grin she knew all too well, a secretive grin.
"Where are we going?" she laughed, cocking an eyebrow at him.
"You'll have to wait until later Alexander, laters." He winked before turning to the officer, shaking his hand, "Bye." He simply said to him before walking out, leaving a curious girlfriend to complete her autopsy.
As he walked to his desk, opposite Nikki's he ran into Leo.
"All set for tonight?" Leo asked, grinning at him. Harry nodded, still grinning,
"I am, I am, just leaving to get the place ready."
"Well good luck, I'll see you tomorrow." Leo placed his hand on Harry's shoulder giving it a quick squeeze before carrying on down the corridor, past his own office.
"Thanks!" Harry called after him as he grabbed his coat and bag before leaving the building, walking to his car, smiling to himself about tonight.
*2 hours later*
When Harry heard the key in the door he looked at the clock to see it was just past 7. He looked himself over in the mirror again quickly, his black hair looked how it normally did, a mess but a sensible mess. He was dressed in a royal blue shirt which a black tie and black trousers, with black shoes.
"Cunningham!" Nikki called causing Harry to laugh.
"Up here." He called back, adjusting his tie, he hated wearing ties. When he heard Nikki's heals on the wooden flooring he knew she was near the room so he turned just as she was at the door frame.
"Woah, we're going out somewhere fancy tonight?" she giggled, walking over to him, placing both hands on his upper arms as his arms wrapped around her waist.
"Yep, now c'mon get ready." He grinned, briefly kissing her. She walked over to their shared wardrobe and looked at her dresses, the back at her boyfriend, then at them again before deciding she'd wear a knee length dress which was a dark blue just like Harry's shirt, with a black thin belt in the middle. She laid it on the chair which was in their room before sitting at the end of the bed, taking her shoes off, then standing to take her dress off.
"So, going to tell me where we're going yet or not?" she asked causing Harry to laugh, he knew she'd hate him keeping this from her. He looked at her in the mirror and saw her trying to unzip her dress. He turned and walked behind her taking the zip from her and moving her curly blonde hair to the left as he unzipped it,
"You'll see when we get there baby." He whispered, his breath against her ear causing shivers to go down her spin. He placed gentle kisses down her neck before dropping her dress and pulling away.
"Thank you." She smiled as she turned around to face him before pulling him in for a kiss, a more passionate kiss than the one shared earlier. We they pulled away, Harry kissed her forehead before walking towards the door. He looked back just before leaving saying,
"I like how you look now but get dressed, we've got to be there at 8." with a grin and then he was gone, down the stairs. Nikki just shook her head, laughing before having a quick wash and re-applying her makeup and adding a few more curls in her hair before getting into her dress and shoes. When she deemed herself ready she wandered down stairs to find her boyfriend watching the news channel while sipping a glass of water, he now had a leather jacket on, looking rather nervous.
"Ready?" she asked cautiously, making Harry jump.
"Fuck!... yeah." He smiled when he regained compositor. He switched the TV off and put the now empty glass in the kitchen, before grabbing his keys and Nikki's hand leading them out of the house.
"No jacket?" he asked just before locking up, it wasn't a cold night but it could become later. Nikki shrugged and smiled,
"I'm fine." Harry just nodded then turned back to lock the door without a witty comment, and this was when she knew something was wrong. When the door was locked, Harry turned around and took Nikki's hand,
"Come on." He grinned kissing her cheek, "You look beautiful." He commented before they walked down the path to Harry's car. As they drove Harry had a protective hand on Nikki's knee, his thumb rubbing a piece of skin repeatedly, the most of the journey was silent and this worried Nikki. What was up with him? She wondered. When they hit traffic lights Nikki had had enough, she clasped Harry's hand capturing his attention.
"Harry, what is wrong? You're worrying me." She frowned.
"Nothing, nothing is wrong." He smiled, trying to convince her but Nikki knew his too well, they both knew this but luckily for Harry the red light switched to amber then green meaning he had to drive. Nikki just sighed as they started to drive again; she was determined to know what was bothering him.
When the car stopped again and the engine was shut off Nikki looked out of the window, then at Harry, who had noticeably grown more nervous, before grinning.
"You remembered." She stated. Harry just nodded, smiling at her.
"I did." He responded, moving forward to kiss her lightly.
"I love you." She grinned, getting out of the car quickly, eager to get inside. Harry laughed, clambering out of him car too before leading Nikki inside. The last time they'd been here was with Leo and Harry remembered how much she loved it.
"Hello, reservation under Cunningham?" Harry smiled at the small woman at the desk. She nodded before showing them the way up to the rooftop which Harry had rented out until midnight, solely for them.
"Rooftop?" Nikki murmured just as the woman left them alone. Harry nodded, smiling a little walking them over to their table, the only table. As they sat down they both looked around, the sound of evening London could be heard, the sky was all shades of purples/reds/pinks and the rooftop was set out beautifully. Instead of the normally 5 tables out, only one white one was with two chairs, a candle in the middle of it. There were rose petals scattered over the floor and flowers in the corner of the roof top.
"This, this is beautiful." Nikki whispered looking at Harry with pure love. He grinned, leaning over to kiss her gently again.
"I love you Nik." He whispered before kissing her again. He reached up and rested his hand on her cheek. When they pulled away Harry left his hand on her face, his thumb caressing it. "You make me the happiest man in the world Nikki. You brighten my day and I couldn't imagine my life without you, I love you so much." He whispered again, almost as if he wasn't supposed to be saying this.
"I love you too Cunningham, so much." She whispered before kissing him softly again, the love pouring through each other's bodies.
Soon after this show of love for each other a waiter came up onto the rooftop to take their orders. They sat and talked, laughing about little things and ate happily in each other's company. Nikki noticed Harry seemed to become a little more relaxed during the evening, but only a little. As they finished their desert and sipped their drinks they sat in a comfortable silence, Nikki taking in the view from their table and Harry building up the courage he needed.
Harry put his drink down and stood up, surprising Nikki but before she could stand with him Harry had knelt down in front of her on one knee and took her hand, looking her directly in the eye a small smile painted on his face which Nikki looked down on him in shock.
"Dr. Nikki Alexander. My Dr. Nikki Alexander. I love you so very much, as you know. You're my best friend, lover, girlfriend and partner. You make me happy, even when I'm in the shittiest moods and hardly speak I'm still happy, because I'm with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I need to spend the rest of my life with you because I love you so much so please, Dr. Nikki Alexander will you do the honour of becoming Dr. Nikki Cunningham, my wife?"
First of all Nikki didn't reply, she just gawped at him like he had sprung 7 more heads. She was in shock, the man who she loved more than anything in the world had just asked her to become his wife. It didn't register in her brain for a moment, she couldn't believe it, and she just carried on looking at him as his face began to fall. Why was his face falling? She asked herself. Then she remembered something; she had to answer.
"Yes." She whispered, so gently she was surprised she heard it.
"What? Pardon?" Harry asked immediately. Nikki just nodded before croaking out,
"Yes." Again, a tear slipping down her face.
"Yes?" Harry questioned before it hit him, she said yes. "Yes!" he cheered, "Yes!" he grinned again causing them both to laugh. He jumped up, pulling her up as he still had her hand and locked her in a passionately, fiery embrace, kissing like their lives depended on it, which in one way it did.
"You said yes." He said breathlessly when they pulled away.
"I did." Nikki grinned, her arms wrapped around her fiancé's neck, before this kissed again and again and again.
"I love you, I love you so much Nikki, I love you."
"I know I love you too." Nikki beamed, kissing him again. They pulled apart and rested their foreheads together, just grinning at each other before Harry remembered something.
"Jesus Christ." He said, jumping into life, releasing Nikki and fumbling in his jacket for something. Nikki watched him, trying to suppress a laugh as she watched the determination on his face to find what he was looking for. After a few moments joy spread across his face again as he pulled a black box out of his jacket. "M'Lady." He grinned, opening the box up to reveal a gold ring with a fair size pale, mint green stone in it. Nikki gasped, grasping her hands together and looked at Harry, another tear escaping down her cheek which Harry was quick to wipe away.
"Jesus Christ Harry, this, this is, it's beautiful." She stumbled over her words in shock. She'd seen this ring before while shopping with Harry months ago. It immediately had captured her attention when she was in the jewellers; she wanted it bad until she saw the price, £209.99. She quizzed the jeweller asking why it was so much and he revealed that it was an antique making her quickly understand why it was so much. "The ring, it's so, so expensive." She gasped to Harry as more tears rolled down her face in delight.
"You liked it, I bought it, and I don't care how expensive it is. You're going to have it for the rest of your life." He beamed, taking it carefully out of the box. "Your hand m'lady." He smirked as he tugged gently on the one which was required, slipping it onto her finger perfectly. "I love you." He said softly, kissing the ring briefly before taking her chin and tipping her head back a little, kissing her over and over again. Nikki's hands finding their way to Harry's hair as Harry's hands wrapped around his now fiancée's waist. When they let go, panting a little they both burst out laughing.
"I, I can't believe we're engaged." Nikki spluttered.
"Me neither." Harry spluttered as well before kissing her again until the sound of his phone interrupted them. "Shit." Harry muttered, getting it out of his jacket to see Leo was calling.
"Hello." Harry said as Leo started to talk. "Right, yes, okay, where? Right, give us half an hour and we'll be there. No, no it's okay, see ya." Harry ended the phone call sighing.
"Me or you?" Nikki asked knowingly as Harry pulled her close again, wrapping his arms around her waist as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"Both of us." He mumbled nuzzling into Nikki's hair, he felt Nikki nod against his chest. They stood embraced with each other for a few minutes before paying and leaving, happily, like a couple madly in love which they were.
"We've gotta change first so we'll head home first yeah?" Harry said as he started the car.
"Yep, I'm not ruining this dress." Nikki laughed, taking hold of Harry's hand.
"Good." He grinned before starting the short drive home.