A/N: Thanks for all your love and support for the first chapter of this story. Once again, thanks to my partner in crime, wanna-be-bold for suggesting the premise and being my co-writer. My parts never would have gotten finished without her.

Densi

"Are you nervous?" Kensi asked, threading her arm through Deeks' as they waited outside one of their favorites, but less intimidating Mexican restaurants. Given the advice Tamara provided, they'd decided to go more casual overall, so Kensi wore a simple black sundress while Deeks had gone with a light blue t-shirt and jeans.

Besides Fatima verifying that Tamara was in fact an 18-year-old girl and owner of the ClipTok account in question, they had little else to go on. Tamara wouldn't share her parents' names and Kensi and Deeks didn't feel the situation warranted looking them up at this point.

"I mean, a little. I've never been an engagement photographer before," Deeks replied.

"I don't think a single video shot on your iPhone counts, Babe."

"Yeah, well, 13,138,224 people would beg to disagree with you." His smirk was visible even from the side and Kensi rolled her eyes fondly. "I'm telling you, it's a ready-made cover."

"What if they ask for more examples of your work?" Kensi asked shrewdly.

"I'll just say they need to set up an appointment and I'm booked for the next three months." He shot Kensi a wry look. "Besides, it works well with your curator cover. You been brushing up on your artwork, Mrs. Deeks?"

"Ok, that was years ago," Kensi protested. "You know I studied those art books for hours since then." Before Deeks could delve deeper into that line of thought, Kensi held up a hand.

"I think I see them," she said as a dark haired couple strolled towards the walkway. She wore a dark blue dress, hair curled around her shoulders, and a small purse strapped over her torso. Her fiance wore dark khakis and a long-sleeve shirt. Clearly, he had a similar attitude towards clothes as Deeks.

"Here we go," Deeks muttered, taking a step forward as he raised his hand in greeting.

Chenford

Grabbing her purse, Lucy was ready to walk out the door when she heard a familiar knock. Surprised, she opened the door to see Tim standing there, hands in his pockets.

"Oh hey, thanks for picking me up. You didn't have to come up here though, I was just on my way down." He was still standing there but he still hadn't said anything. Instead, he was looking her over, taking in the dress she had chosen for today. It was similar to the dress she had worn to Angela's wedding but this one was more casual, a dark blue with a floral pattern that she knew he would love. "Tim?" She smirked as he brought his eyes back up to hers.

"You uh, you look nice." A smile lit up her face at his compliment.

"Thanks. You do too." He was wearing dark khakis and a light blue button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and she was having a hard time tearing her eyes away from his arms.

"You ready?" Lucy nodded, looping her arm through his as she walked out and locked her door behind them.

They both tried not to think about how much like a date this felt, and it never occurred to them to drop their arms until he was helping her into the passenger seat of his truck and they had to let go.

As they were on the way to the Mexican restaurant he looked over at Lucy.

"So, what do we know about these people?" She pulled out her phone, looking at the messages Tamara had sent her with the information of the couple they were meeting.

"All Tamara sent me was that he's an engagement photographer and she is an art curator. I can't wait to pick her brain about what she thought of that exhibit we went to last month!" Tim rolled his eyes, glancing over at her.

"Just remember that our main purpose of this is to get them to take down that video. Can you imagine the teasing we would get from Angela if she saw that?"

"Yeah, because Angela is definitely on ClipTok." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Come on Luce, you know how videos like that make their way around the internet. And I'd rather them not play it at the next roll call."

"Fine. Fine. You're right." She held up her hands in defeat. "I'll focus on getting them to take it down. But if she starts talking about art, don't expect me to stay quiet." His only response was a small, fond smile and shake of the head.

"Do we know their names or what they look like?"

"Nope. That's all the information Tamara was able to get."

"So we're going into this blind. Great." Lucy glanced over at him, noticing the frown on his face. She reached over, placing a hand on top of his where it rested on the console.

"It's gonna be fine Tim. I promise."

A few minutes later they were walking up to the restaurant, both of them looking around for a couple that could be the ones they were meeting. Once they were closer, they saw a couple standing outside the front doors who started waving them over.

The woman had dark brown hair and was wearing a sleeveless wrap dress that fell to her knees. Next to her stood a man with shaggy blonde hair dressed similarly to him, making him wonder if he really was that plain of a dresser like Lucy had so often claimed.

With one last look at each other Tim and Lucy stepped forward, hoping that they could get this over with quickly.

Chenford/Densi

"Hey, Justin, Melissa, good to finally meet you," Deeks called out, offering his hand to a very confused looking Tim and Lucy.

Tim reached his hand out to the man, shaking it firmly while glancing at Lucy who thankfully took over the conversation.

"Justin and Melissa? Do I look like a Melissa to you?" She said the last part under her breath to Tim who just laughed and shook his head.

"Actually it's Tim and Lucy. Nice to meet you…" He trailed off, waiting for one of them to fill in the blank.

"See, I told you she didn't seem like a Melissa, didn't I?" Kensi said, nudging Deeks' shoulder. "And I mentioned the name Lucy."

"I don't remember that at all." Deeks raised his eyebrow at Kensi before turning back to not Melissa and Justin. "It's great to meet you. I'm Deeks."

"And I'm Kensi, his wife," Kensi added, shaking Tim and Lucy's hands too. "Sorry about the names. We didn't know what to call you, so Deeks thought we should give you nicknames for the time being."

"So, should we go in?" Deeks asked as a slightly awkward silence ensued. "We're really glad we were able to track you down."

"Yeah, we're glad you found us." Lucy said as they walked behind them, Tim nudged her to just get to the point. Turning around she glared at him for a second before they were at their table.

She was sitting next to Tim, Kensi and Deeks on the other side, and she suddenly realized just how much this felt like a double date. "We were actually a little surprised to see that video."

She could sense Tim's annoyance and laid her hand on top of his under the table to stop him from talking. They seemed like a nice couple, and she at least wanted to get through dinner before bringing up them taking the video down.

Tim and Lucy (Deeks had to keep correcting himself) seemed nice, if a little on edge. He chalked it up to the unusual situation and tried not to stare whenever Tim sent Lucy a pointed, vaguely harried look.

When their food arrived, Lucy declared there were too many tomatoes on her tacos and immediately began piling them onto Tim's plate while taking the opportunity to snatch a few slices of jalapeno from his food. He gave a long-suffering sigh, but didn't attempt to stop her, instead sending her a small smile.

Hearing a chuckle from across the table Lucy looked up at their dinner companions in confusion. She glanced at Tim and was suddenly wondering if she should have just listened to him and started with the topic of the video before turning back and confronting them.

"What? What's so funny?" She could feel Tim's hand resting on her knee and was thankful for the silent support.

"Sorry," Deeks apologized. "That probably seemed insanely guys just remind me of us when we first started out. We were always bantering, and Kensi constantly stole my fries."

"He stole my donuts, too," Kensi added, then smiled at the couple across from them. "But he's right about you two."

"Oh. We're not together." Tim motioned back and forth between him and Lucy, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He chanced a glance over at Lucy, trying to gauge her reaction to those words, but her hair was now blocking her face from him as she looked down.

Kensi and Deeks shared a smirk, reminded of their own days of protesting their "thing".

"So then why did you propose to her?" Kensi asked, leaning forward. "It looked pretty legitimate to me."

"He uh, he wasn't proposing. I had lost my ring and I panicked and…" she trailed off, spinning her ring around her finger. She felt Tim's hand land over hers and she looked up at him, the courage to continue coming from just a look from him. "This ring is a bright spot from the worst day of my life and Tim knows that so he helped me find it. Looking back now I guess I can see how it would look like a proposal but it wasn't and, we're sorry to come here under false pretenses but…"

"What Lucy's trying to say is we'd really appreciate it if you would take the video down. It's not real and we'd really hate for anyone at work to see it. They'd tease us relentlessly and it might have repercussions on our careers. Mainly Lucy's."

"I'm sorry, we had no idea." Kensi shot Deeks an "I told you so" look and he inwardly grimaced.

"Of course we'll take it down if you want us to," Deeks agreed. He paused to reach into his pocket and offered a small USB to Lucy and Tim.

"What's this?" Tim asked suspiciously as he took the USB from Deeks outstretched hand, looking down at it before handing it over to Lucy.

"A hard copy in case you ever decide you want a second look," Deeks answered, leveling Tim with a knowing look. He took a drink of beer as they carried on a conversation consisting completely of glares, raised eyebrows, and tilted heads.

"Not that it's really our business," Kensi said, allowing a chuckle. "We've obviously intruded into your personal lives more than enough, but if you don't mind me asking, why would that video cause professional problems?".

"Tim was my TO just over a year ago. Now he's my Sargeant and I'm his aide."

"We're LAPD." He could see Kensi and Deeks eyes widen as they looked at each other and he suddenly felt nervous. "What, do you have a problem with that?" He gave them his classic TO stare, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"Tim." She drew his name out, touching his arm lightly and giving him a pointed look.

"No,we don't have a problem." Deeks looked slightly upward as he grinned, chuckling softly. "The similarities are just amazingly ironic. Kensi and I work for the federal agency NCIS and I used to be a detective with LAPD. We've been partners for over 12 years now."

Lucy's eyes widened in shock at the news.

"W-wow. I can uh, I can honestly say we weren't expecting that." Looking over at Tim she was surprised to see him looking at Deeks in scrutiny. "Tim?"

"Deeks. I knew I had heard that name before." She locked eyes with Kensi, both of them curious to see where this was going. "Yeah my TO mentioned you when I was a Rookie. Said you were the perfect example of the kind of partner you didn't want, someone who sells out his own partner."

Lucy looked back and forth between Deeks and Tim, wondering where Tim was going with this.

"There were extenuating circumstances," Deeks said carefully, suddenly on edge himself. What were the chances that he'd run into yet another LAPD cop who disliked him this many years later? He felt Kensi's hand smooth across his back, quietly soothing and supportive. "I disagreed with how my partner was…interrogating a suspect and his solution was violence."

"I heard what your partner did and let me tell you I don't blame you for trying to turn him in. In fact, I thought it was unfair how everyone treated you. We had a bad apple in our precinct last year and it was… difficult to get him out." He glanced over at Lucy, knowing that Jackson had been the reason that Stanton was finally taken down. "I had hoped to meet you back then but then I heard you went undercover and were never heard from again."

Relief ran through Deeks as Kensi let out a sigh and gently squeezed his shoulder.

"Eh, that's just an urban legend. I joined NCIS as a liaison and didn't make it up to headquarters that often."

"12 years is a long time to work together," Lucy said, seeming slightly awed. "I hope we can make it to half of that."

"Well, the first few years were kind of rough," Kensi admitted, turning to smile at Deeks. "But after that, we found our way."

"And then I realized that Kensi was the only person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with," Deeks added softly, squeezing Kensi's hand. "It took a few extra years, and proposals, to figure out exactly how to make that happen, but it was all worth it and I would totally do it all again..

"Awww you two are so sweet." Lucy put her hand over her heart as she looked at the couple. She silently wondered if she would ever have what they had with Tim. "So you've been partners for 12 years, how long have you been together together?"

"7 years this past Christmas," Kensi answered, unable to stop a little smile. "And we've been married for 3 and we just adopted our daughter, Rosa, this year."

"Speaking of daughters, if you two aren't technically together, then how do you also have a teenage daughter?" Deeks asked, more curious than judgmental or skeptical.

"Tamara's not our daughter," Tim responded with a roll of his eyes. "Though I suppose she might as well be at this point."

"It's kind of complicated," Lucy added. "We're like her unofficial guardians, you could say." She made an awkward gesture with her head.

"Oh. Well, let her know that we really appreciate her reaching out to Rosa. Even if it wasn't really a proposal," Kensi paused ever so slightly, sliding the pair across from her and Deeks a pointed look before continuing, "we're glad to straighten things out."

"And I hope we, well mostly me, didn't cause too much trouble," Deeks said. "I truly thought I would be helping you guys out."

"Not at all. And I think what you were trying to do was sweet. Besides, after watching the video ourselves we can see where you could think it was a proposal."

"Yeah, I must admit, it looked a lot more real than when I fake-proposed to Ashley."

Kensi and Deeks looked at each other in confusion as they watched Lucy roll her eyes and mutter something under her breath to Tim.

"Wait a second… who's Ashley?" Kensi asked, looking back and forth between the two, not missing Tim's wince.

"Ashley was my girlfriend for a few months." Tim explained, avoiding Lucy's eyes as she continued his sentence, both of them missing the looks of shock from their dinner companions.

"And Tim decided to prank me by proposing to her in the parking lot at work after shift one day."

From across the table Deeks winced, only imagining the fury he would have gotten from Kensi had he been stupid enough to do that.

"Only because you had been bugging me all day about her expecting a proposal in Hawaii. And I texted you immediately letting you know it was a joke."

"Yeah well, it didn't look like one in the moment." Her words were said under her breath, but Kensi heard them and heard the pain and jealousy behind them. She remembered when she was in Lucy's shoes and hoped the couple across from her would come to their senses soon.

"I know Luce, and I'm sorry." Tim itched to reach over and lay his hand on top of Lucy's where he knew she was playing with her moonstone ring, but he stopped himself, instead dropping his hands in his lap and letting the subject go.

There was an exceedingly awkward silence where no one made eye contact and Deeks cleared his throat.

"That kind of makes our 3-4 proposals sound almost normal," he joked, avoiding a jab from Kensi's elbow.

"Babe, so not the time," she muttered.

"No, it's ok," Lucy insisted quickly. "We ruined the atmosphere. I am curious about the 3-4 proposals. Are you not sure?" She seemed eager to change the subject and move on, though Tim had eased away slightly, mild regret still evident in his eyes despite his overall stoic expression.

"One was sort of a pre-proposal, to test the waters if you will, and another kind of took place while Kensi was still in a coma, so I'm not sure that one counts either."

Even Tim raised an eyebrow at that and opened his mouth to speak, but Kensi quickly shook her head.

"If you get Deeks started, we'll be here all night long, but the main point is, despite all the many, many miscommunications," they shared a look as she paused.

"Worries about what people would think and how it might affect our partnership," Deeks added.

"And a million other issues in between including way too many proposals, we made it through," Kensi finished.

"It was the best decision we ever made," Lifting her hand to his mouth, Deeks kissed Kensi's palm softly. He heard Tim make a noise that might have been a snort and flashed him a self-deprecating smile. "Sorry. I know that was incredibly cheesy."

"You think?" Tim rolled his eyes and then glared at Lucy when she smacked his arm.

"Ignore him. I think what you two have is incredibly sweet and I can only hope to have half the relationship you two do someday." She smiled softly at them, purposely not looking at Tim. His eyes that she wished would show longing were most likely filled with annoyance at how sappy the evening had gotten.

Tim had to resist the urge to look at Lucy as she talked, knowing his eyes would only give away just how much he wanted that too, but only if he could have it with her.

Across the table, Kensi noticed the looks in Tim and Lucy's eyes and knew it was time to leave.

"Well, we should probably get going," Kensi said, nudging Deeks again as she checked her watch. "It was lovely to meet you, Tim and Lucy."

"It was nice meeting you too Kensi, Deeks." She smiled at them, Tim echoing her sentiments. "And despite the whole proposal mix up I'm really glad we got to meet you guys."

They stood to go and Deeks hesitated as he grabbed the check their waiter left behind, then took the plunge and offered once last piece of advice,

"Don't let fear of what could happen stop you from having what you want." That seemed fairly vague enough without directly pushing the idea of their relationship, which would probably only scare them off the idea even more.

Folding his hand around Kensi's, he headed in the direction of the hostess to pay their check. While they waited for a receipt, he snuck a glance over his shoulder.

"Damn, I'm good," he said smugly. Frowning at him, Kensi turned under the guise of checking for something in her purse to see Tim with his hand placed over Lucy's, their heads bent close together. "Turns out I am an excellent relationship coach, in addition to my photography skills."

Kensi snorted, shaking her head as she leaned into his side, then tugged him towards the door.

"I'm not sure you can take all the credit, but I do think we made some impact," she allowed. She sighed, running her fingers through the curls at Deeks' temple. "I hope they figure things out. I hope they're happy like us."

"Well, that was interesting." Lucy let out a chuckle

As they watched the other couple walk away. Tim let out a breath, turning towards Lucy and placing a hand over hers where it rested on the table.

"I really am sorry about the whole fake proposal thing you know." She nodded.

"I know. Thank you." Leaning in closer to Tim she smiled. "You think we'll be together for that long? As partners that is?"

"I don't know. But I really hope so." He smiled back at her, squeezing her hand in his.

1 Week Later

Kensi frowned as an unfamiliar number popped up on her screen.

"Hello, this is Kensi Blye," she answered with a modicum of suspicion in her voice. There was a brief silence and then a vaguely familiar voice said,

"Hi…Kensi, this is Lucy. Lucy Chen." She sounded a little nervous and unsure.

"Oh hey, it's nice to hear from you again, but uh, how did you get my number?"

"Tamara, through Rosa." Lucy answered. "Sorry if your daughter wasn't supposed to be sharing your personal information, but I didn't know another good way to reach you."

"That's ok. You haven't had any issues at work because of the video, right?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. I actually haven't even seen it since then I just–" Lucy sighed deeply. "I was thinking about the last thing you said to me before you left last week, be bold. I was…" she took a deep breath for courage, " I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about your and Deeks' relationship." Her words came out quickly and it was clear she was nervous.

On the other end of the line Kensi smirked, leaning back in her chair and propping her feet up.

"Sure. What do you want to know?" It was going to drive Deeks crazy that he wasn't here for this.

"How did you two know it was time to take that next step? And what happened once your team found out?"

"I don't know that we knew that it was the right time," Kensi began, thinking back to what now seemed like a very long time ago. "Honestly, we'd spent years dancing around each other, reading into every little thing as a sign against a relationship while we were both miserable or pretending we were just partners. Then one day, I finally pushed my fear down and asked Deeks to be more than just my work partner."

"Again, you make it sound so easy," Lucy sighed, sounding vaguely annoyed. "Anytime Tim and I try to talk about our…relationship seriously, it's awkward and it's like we're 13-year-olds with crushes again."

"Oh my god, I was so nervous You have no idea." Kensi chuckled softly. If only Lucy, or Deeks, knew how hard her heart was beating when she took him aside at the ice rink. "I nearly backed down a dozen times, almost convincing myself that it was a terrible idea."

"Well, no one would know it looking at you now," Lucy commented. "You seem perfect together."

"That's because we've been together for over 7 years," Kensi reminded her gently. "There were a ton of awkward firsts and months of learning about each other in a brand-new context during that time. Don't convince yourself that it's impossible, Lucy, just because there's some barriers.

"And when it came to our team, well, we decided to hide that we were dating, but everyone figured it out pretty quickly. Turns out keeping secrets from a bunch of trained investigators you spend every day with isn't as easy as you'd think."

"But they were ok with it? Your supervisors and colleagues didn't question your professionalism or anything?" Lucy held her breath as she waited for Kensi's response. This was what she knew Tim was worried about the most, mainly for the sake of her career.

"There were some concerns, but fortunately our team knows us and the quality of our work didn't suffer. In your case, since you're Tim's aide, that makes it a little more complicated. I think if you're honest with everyone and maybe come to terms with your work relationship changing a little, it might not be as difficult as you think."

"Wow, that's a lot to consider." Lucy let out a very audible sigh.

"I hope I didn't make it worse," Kensi said.

"No, you didn't. It helps to talk to someone who's been through a similar situation," Lucy assured her. "Thanks Kensi. I really appreciate the advice."

"You're welcome. Now go be bold. And I'm always open to coffee or a taco if you need to talk more."

She nodded, laughing lightly as Kensi hung up the phone. Leaning back she repeated the woman's words in her mind. Be bold. She could do that.

A few hours after talking to Kensi Lucy found herself on Tim's doorstep. Biting her lip she took a deep breath, raised her hand, and knocked loudly on Tim's door. Kensi's advice to be bold ringing in her mind.

Hearing the knock at the door Tim froze. He was sitting there on his couch watching the non-proposal video for what felt like the hundredth time in a week. He felt pathetic at how many times he had watched the video, but he couldn't help it. There was something about watching himself on one knee in front of Lucy that made his heart ache and dream of a day when he could propose to her for real. Because despite his fake proposal to Ashley being something he thought he wanted, he knew now as he stared at himself kneeling in front of Lucy that it felt 100 times more real than anything he had with Ashley.

Shaking his head he hit pause and closed his laptop just as another loud knock came from his front door.

"I'm coming!" Opening the door his mouth dropped open when he saw Lucy on the other side, one hand spinning her ring around her finger. "Luce?"

"Hey Tim." Without another word she stepped inside, letting him close the door behind them before turning around.

"What're you doing here?" Biting her lip she looked up at him through her eyelashes.

"Being bold." Without hesitation she stood up on her tiptoes, grabbed his face in her hands, and kissed him.

He let out a noise of surprise before melting into the kiss, his hands dropping to her hips and pulling her into him.

This time there was no interruption as their lips fought for dominance, their hands starting to roam. When air became a necessity they pulled back, not going far as they rested their foreheads together.

"Lucy?" Her name came out in a breath against her lips and she felt his hands flex on her waist.

"I called Kensi and she gave me some advice. She told me to be bold so," she shrugged, looking up into his eyes, "that was me being bold."

A smile lit up Tim's face and he leaned down, his lips barely brushing hers as he spoke. "I quite like you being bold then."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mmhmm." His breath was hot against her lips as he kissed her gently before trailing his lips down her neck.

"Hey Tim?" He pulled back slightly, looking into her eyes. "Are you worried at all about what everyone will think? You know, about us…" She was biting her lip in nervousness, and he had to resist the urge to pull her lip into his own mouth. Instead he shook his head, running a thumb across her lips.

"I've been thinking about what Deeks said, about not letting the fear of what might happen stop me from getting what I want. And I want you, Lucy." Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly. "Besides, some things are more important."

"Yes, they are." With a smile she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his and only breaking away when he suddenly picked her up and carried her to his room.