"What are you doing?"
He followed her subtle nod to their joined hands, swinging gently between them as they walked through the crowded fairgrounds. He tugged softly to steer them around a massive line before the ferris wheel, smiling innocently.
"Whatever are you talking about, my love?"
"Laying it on a little thick, don't you think?" Elena rolled her eyes with a cheery smile for anyone who might have been watching.
"Can't a man hold his wife's hand anymore?" He gasped, placing his free hand over his heart.
"When exactly did we get married?" Her lips twisted up into a smirk as her eyes scanned the roaming crowds.
"It seems like it was only minutes ago," he sighed dreamily.
"I'm with her, brother; you're laying it on a little thick."
The annoyed voice chirped in their ears.
"Stop playing the role of bickering newlyweds. We've got eyes on the target and need you to cause a distraction so we can make the arrest. Hopefully without causing a scene."
"So I take it ripping her clothes off and ravishing her right here in the middle of the crowd is out of the question?" He breathed against his collar.
"Are you out of your mind?" Elena stopped up short. She pulled her hand free and placed it on her hip as she tipped her head back to glare at him.
"You have to admit darling that it would make an excellent distraction," his eyes glittered. The unspoken sentence hung between them because he knew better than to reveal how much the idea of being watched turned her on.
"Keep it up and you'll be sleeping at your brother's house for the foreseeable future." She crossed her arms.
"If you two are going to go with lover's quarrel could you make it a hit louder? We need the crowd to box him in so he can't make a break."
"I don't think their play acting Nik."
"Why do you have to push buttons?" Elena rose her voice a few levels higher than she normally would have for such a discussion, conscious of the fact that she still had a job to do.
"Why can't you take a bloody joke?" He countered. From the corner of his eye he saw the crowd turning to watch them, but it wasn't enough.
Their voices had alerted the perp to their presence and as luck would have it the man he spoke to recognized Elena as the officer who had arrested him the previous year.
"This evening was supposed to be romantic!"
"The county fair?" She scoffed. "Screaming children, foul smells and gaudy lights: real romantic. Every little girl's dream date! Why would I possibly find any of this romantic?"
"Don't you remember?"
"Remember what?"
She thought she saw genuine hurt flash in his eyes.
"This is where we had our first date," he gestured wildly with his hands.
"That was not a date!" She shook her head at the tidbit of truth he had tossed into the lie. Ten years before Rebekah had tried to set her up with one of her brothers, but she hadn't known until later after she had taken sick from a particularly vicious rollercoaster.
"I count it," he smirked, "that was our first kiss."
"It was sophomore year," Elena rolled her eyes, "and I'd hardly consider that a kiss. You took advantage of a poor girl's fear of heights at the top of the ferris wheel."
"It distracted you," he smiled, dropping his voice. From the corner of his eye he saw Klaus and Caroline move into position.
"Not as much as seeing you wrapped around Davina Claire twenty minutes later."
"Oh shit! It just got ugly. He might actually be sleeping at yours, Nik."
"Not if I have anything to say about it."
"Someone remind me why I chose a profession with my brothers and their girlfriends."
"That was sophomore year," his eyes narrowed, "and you had plainly said that you weren't interested."
"I cant believe you brought me here to remind me of that particular night!"
"I brought you here to propose!"
The crowd shifted all at once to stare at them.
"Next time don't wait so long."
Elena's breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened; it was a practiced gesture, one she used many times when they pulled off this particular distraction. She knew the next words like the back of her hand when he reached into his pocket, but they melted away when she saw the little box wrapped in dark blue velvet.
She had personally catalogued every item in the evidence locker earlier that day and made note of which items had been signed out. The box in his hands was not one of them.
"That… is that…" her eyes darted from his face to his hands as the box was opened. It was not a ring she recognized.
Her ears were deaf to the rapid questions being whispered through the com, asking why she wasn't going ahead with the usual; she hardly noticed the crowds.
"If this is one of your pranks, so help me Kol Mikaelson, you'll be sleeping on the couch for a month!"
"Would somebody care to tell me what's going on over there?"
"No idea, 'Lijah. They're not answering."
He captured her hand with one of his as Caroline began reading off the rights in his ear.
"Do I look like I'm joking, darling?"
"You're always joking." Her voice was little more than a whisper.
"Not tonight," he swore. His smile turned serious as he dropped to one knee in the grass.
"Neither of you seem to care, but we got the drug dealer."
He ignored Caroline.
"Believe me, darling, I'm deadly serious right now." His thimble ran over her knuckles as he met her wide eyes. "I have loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you, and yes, admittedly, I didn't handle it very well at times, but I for one think I'm getting better at it. I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"
She very nearly shouted her response when she spotted the crowds and the Ferris wheel. With the hand that had at some point covered her gaping mouth she held her throat and said in the most incredulous voice she could manage.
"You're not just proposing cause I'm pregnant, are you?" She had the great pleasure of seeing his eyes widen.
It took him a moment to recover as the eyes turned to stare at the red spots high on his cheek bones.
"No, darling," he shook his head, "I'm proposing because I love you. Are you going to leave me on my knees all night, love?"
She would have happily had him on his knees all night, but that was not the question he was asking. She could see the anticipation in his eyes as she nodded.
"Yes, you're going to keep me here all night?" He gave a small laugh.
"No you idiot," she smiled fondly, "yes: I'll marry you."
She was deaf to the cheering of the revelers as he slipped the ring onto her finger. She fell to her knees and grasped the sides of his face before planting her lips on his in a sound kiss.
"Wait a minute. Are they really engaged?"
"That definitely wasn't scripted."
"Is she really pregnant?"
"If she is then the tequila shots last night were a big mistake, but I have a very serious question."
"What would that be, sweetheart?"
"Klaus, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that at work?"
"What's the question, love?"
"Who's going to break them up? Someone's gotta do it before we have to arrest two of the best detectives for public indecency."