Alex was conscious of a few things during the night.

She was aware of Nick pulling a t-shirt on over her head, even though she didn't remember him pulling her other clothes off in the first place.

She was aware of running to the bathroom to throw up.

Then later, she was aware of Nick gently prodding her from her passed-out position on the amazingly nice, cold bathroom floor and gently urging her back to bed…

She was aware of him making her swallow some pills with water. And then more water.

And then his hand rubbing her back gently as she fell back asleep, amazed that she was actually happy he was there. Usually, she needed her space when she was sick…

She opened her eyes and squinted at the bright light shining through her window.

Arg.

She rubbed her eyes and turned over to look away from the brightness. Her mouth tasted like…

God, I don't know what, but whatever it is, it isn't good.

She frowned as she suddenly remembered last night.

Oh jeeze…

She pulled a pillow over her head and groaned loudly.

How embarrassing.

She attempted to put together the fractured images of the night: beer, Darrell, Carmen, Jenny and the gang, tequila… And Nick coming into the nightclub to take her home.

Crap. I was such a mess.

Nick had never seen her drunk before. The truth was, she didn't really drink to that extent very often, so she didn't have much of a tolerance for alcohol.

Yeah, take last night for example…

In fact, the last time she'd been that drunk had been when she'd broken it off with Nick.

She pulled the pillow off her face and sat up, grinning stupidly. She could remember him laughing at her a couple times last night, but not much else.

God, I hope I didn't make too much of a fool of myself.

She sat up slowly, somewhat amazed that her head wasn't really pounding that badly. Then she smiled as she saw the half-empty jug of water and the bottle of Tylenol on the bedside table.

Damn, he's so sweet.

She got up and made her way to the bathroom for a shower.

Her father looked up from the kitchen table as Alex entered. He smirked at her.

"How's your head, sweetheart?"

Alex laughed. "Ah, so you heard?"

"Sam filled us in this morning. Need some aspirin?"

Alex grinned. "No, I just took some. I think I must have taken some last night at some point too because I don't feel too bad actually. I thought I might risk some toast."

She moved towards the cupboards. "Where is everybody?"

"Sam and Nick drove the girls home. Maddie and Gary stayed at their house last night." He nodded towards the back of the house. "Your mom is doing some laundry."

"Ah." She popped some bread into the toaster and sat down with her dad. He was holding a paper in his hands, but he was still staring at her with a grin on his face.

"What?" She looked at him nervously.

"Nothing, sweetie. It's just nice to have you home again."

He wasn't about to tell her that Sam had also mentioned her little declaration in the car last night.

She smiled. "Thanks dad. I'm sorry I was a bit cranky those first few days-"

"Ah, we all knew why. And you seem happy enough now."

She laughed. "Yeah, I am. I guess I was just worried Nick wouldn't make it up here."

"I know. I'm glad he did too, hon. He's a good lad."

She leaned in to hug him as she went to butter her toast. "Thanks, dad. I'm glad everybody seems to like him so much… Cuz I sure do."

He laughed. "Yeah, we noticed."

Her mother entered the kitchen as she munched on her toast in companionable silence with her dad.

"Well now. If it isn't my daughter the lush. I'm-"

"Ahhhh… Don't start with me, mom!" Alex shook her head and her father lifted his newspaper a little higher in front of his face.

She felt bad as her mom looked a little taken aback. "I was just going to say I'm glad you had fun last night. Sam and Nick said you were very entertaining."

Alex felt like a jerk. "Oh, mom… I'm sorry. I thought you were going give me a hard time."

"I wouldn't do that dear."

Alan Winters snorted behind his paper and Alex grinned as her mother shot a dirty look his way.

Alex made herself some hot chocolate and curled up on the sofa in front of the TV.

She'd thrown in a DVD and was enjoying the mindlessness of just sitting and watching something. She actually felt OK, but she wasn't feeling overly motivated this morning.

She heard the front door opening and waited expectantly for Nick's voice. She could hear Sam speaking and she turned towards the doorway and tilted her head… Then Nick walked in through the door and, seeing her he smiled with amusement.

"Oh ho. Princess Boozey has arisen."

She laughed and shook her head in embarrassment. He moved to sit down beside her and she pulled her feet out of the way. He leaned in to kiss her softly, massaging her shoulders.

"How you feelin'?"

She smirked. "Pretty good actually. Thanks mostly to you, I'm guessing."

He chuckled. "And maybe the fact that you cleaned out your entire system last night…"

She groaned and stuck her face into his shoulder.

"Oh, Nick… I'm so sorry. I feel like such an idiot."

He laughed again and brushed her hair off her forehead. "Don't be. You were pretty funny, actually."

She kept her face in his shoulder. "Well, I'm sure I still wasn't the most fun to sleep next to-"

"Well, you spent half the night asleep on the bathroom floor before I noticed, so I got in a little sleep."

She laughed. "I sort of remember you bringing me back to bed…" She sighed. "Anyway, I'm really sorry. I'm pretty sure you didn't count on having to baby-sit your drunken girlfriend over the holidays."

He squeezed her tighter. "Seriously, honey… It was no big deal, I promise you. Like I said, you were pretty funny."

She had a sense of deja-vu as she looked up at him, still shamefaced. "Well, I'm glad I was entertaining at least."

"Oh you sure were, darlin'… Yu sure were." He laughed down at her again, playing with her hair.

"Man, what did I do? Did I say anything stupid?"

His eyes sparkled. "No, nothing stupid."

He thought about what she'd said in the back of the car and grinned wider. Maybe she'd just been drunk but… Just because your inhibitions were down, it didn't mean you said things you didn't mean...

"Please, Nick… Tell me? It's all a blur…"

He broke off from his thoughts at her question.

"Hmmm. Well, you were a bit wobbly and hiccupping a lot. And talking sort of nonsense… Trust me, you had all your friends laughing in the bar."

"Oh wow, I forgot about that. I'm sorry, Nick… I honestly didn't meant to ditch you, but I ran into…"

She frowned as she thought about Darrell. Nick didn't miss the change in her expression.

"What?"

"Oh, it's nothing really. It's just that… Well, one of those guys was my ex."

Nick nodded, smirking. "I'm pretty sure I know which one."

Alex looked up at him speculatively. "Yeah?"

He grinned at her. "Yeah."

"How?"

"When I came looking for you, I saw him with his greasy paws all over you."

Alex looked shocked and tried to recall that moment. "I… I don't- Oh."

She suddenly remembered him leering into her face, asking her to dance or something and she squinched up her nose in disgust.

Nick kissed her forehead, speaking softly. "And I also saw you push him away."

She smiled up at him. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?"

"Mmmm hmmm."

He grinned, remembering the amazing smile she'd given him from across the bar. "Good thing, too. I wouldn't have wanted to get tossed into a Canadian jail for cleaning his clock. Might've needed Amnesty International to get me out or something..."

She laughed and put her head back on his shoulder, hugging him tighter. "No, we couldn't have that. And Grissom would've killed me."

He laughed and snuggled in to watch the movie with her.

That afternoon, Alex took Nick up Grouse Mountain.

They'd been packed like sardines in the gondola amongst the skiers and tourists, but Nick thought the view was worth it. It was partially cloudy, but they could still look over most of the city below.

"Wow. Who knew Vancouver was so spectacular?"

Alex grinned. "I did."

He pulled her into his arms as they stood on the lookout terrace. He smiled down into her face.

"Yeah, I should have known it would have to be amazing if you came from here."

She laughed and grabbed his arm. "Ohhhh. Smooth line there, Stokes. But just so you know, you don't have to butter me up; you've already got the girl."

He laughed and leaned down to kiss her deeply. Just as her stomach began to flutter, he pulled away again.

"Maybe I do have the girl already, but I like to play it safe." He grinned. "And you are amazing, Alex."

She felt a stupid grin stretching across her face. "Aw shucks, Nick. You're making me blush."

"Don't worry. Everyone will think it's from the cold."

He looked around him and then back at her. "Man, if this isn't the most romantic spot, I don't know what is." He looked at her in consideration for a moment and then looked back around again.

"Stay right there."

She watched curiously as he went back inside. He returned a moment later, smiling. As he reached into his pocket, Alex's heart began to pitter patter in her chest.

Oh god. Is he going to…?

Just then another person came onto the deck and Nick smiled as he pulled his camera out of his pocket and handed it to him.

She felt her stomach drop and she took a small breath.

Wow. OK, I feel stupid now.

"You OK?" He looked at her, suddenly concerned as he moved up towards her. The earlier flush had been replaced by a white pallor. She gave her head a small shake and then grinned.

"I'm cool. I think I just had a hung-over moment for a second. It's passed."

He laughed. "You sure? I thought I'd get a picture of us here…"

"Yeah, I'm good. Let's get the shot."

Dinner that night was a little less boisterous, since Maddie, Gary and the girls were visiting one of Gary's family members. Sam still took the opportunity to rib Alex about the night before however, since he'd been unable to do so all afternoon while she'd been out with Nick.

"So, Alex... You want a beer?"

She looked back at him in challenge. "Maybe I do."

He grinned. "And how about some tequila to start?"

She couldn't help but grimace. "On second thought…"

"Sam, stop teasing your sister and eat." Their father shook his head, smirking.

Sam stuck his tongue out at Alex and mouthed the words 'daddy's girl' when his parents weren't looking. Nick laughed and Alan looked at him in question. Nick looked down again, still smiling and Alan gave Sam a look.

Sam looked at him innocently. "What?"

After dinner, they all settled in for a movie and Alex leaned into Nick on the sofa. She was still a little shaken about what had almost happened…

Correction: What she'd thought was going to happen.

Then a disturbing idea came over her.

What if I'm totally wrong about this? What if that wasn't an engagement ring at all?

But then why did Nick have it? If it had been just a Christmas present, surely he'd have given it to her? Her brain was buzzing.

Maybe he didn't know what I liked, so he brought two options?

Hmmm. But what were the chances he would have specifically picked an emerald as one of his choices? Seemed a little unlikely. She sighed out loud, unknowingly.

"You OK?" Nick whispered down in her ear.

She snuggled in closer. "Never better." She gave his side a small hug.

He kissed the top of her head and returned his attention to the movie. Alex found it hard to concentrate.

Why hasn't he asked me then?

They were leaving tomorrow evening, and if he'd brought it all the way to Vancouver, surely he must have wanted to ask her there?

So what's he waiting for?

If he'd wanted a romantic place to propose, he'd admitted himself that the lookout on Grouse Mountain was pretty much it. The more she considered it, the more she felt her stomach dropping.

Maybe he's changed his mind.

She bit her lower lip and tried to ignore the thought, but it continued to distract her from the movie.

As Alex shifted at his side, Nick tried to concentrate on the movie, but his mind kept drifting back to what she'd said last night.

"Don't worry about it. I'm going to marry Nick someday.

He felt the familiar tingle in his chest as he considered the words for the thousandth time since she'd said them.

At the time, he'd spent the rest of the drive home trying to convince the others that no, in fact he hadn't proposed to Alex. He'd wanted to add 'yet' to that statement but he'd held back. There was too much uncertainty in his mind over the whole thing to open up that can of worms with her family. He still hadn't been able to reconcile Alex's drunken statement last night to her unspoken one early Christmas morning.

Although he wasn't sure how Alex really felt about the whole thing, he still dared to entertain a small hope that she might actually want to marry him. But he also couldn't shake the case of the nerves he got every time he thought about asking her.

What if she says no?

It was the uncertainty that was killing him. But he only knew one way to find out the truth…