Becker showed up at Jess' door exactly twenty minutes later with a bouquet of assorted flowers for her that he'd picked up on his way over and that he now held behind his back.

Since the night that he'd decided to win Jess over once and for all, he'd done some more thinking. He knew that if he asked her to be his girlfriend, she'd probably agree in an instant, but where was the fun in that? He loved to see her embarrass herself and blush and ramble on and get flustered just for him. He wasn't quite ready for that to stop. Of course, kissing Jess was probably more fun than watching her blush, but for now he'd just let fate take his own course. He'd see how many little things he could do for Jess before the topic presented itself or he gave in and kissed her senseless, whichever came first. He had a feeling he wouldn't last long.

Jess opened the door and Becker's face lit up when he noticed that the ringlets were still in place. Jess saw the grin and the way his eyes touched upon her curls. "I tried to brush them out, actually, but apparently my hair holds ringlets quite well."

Becker gave her a puzzled look, "But, why would you try to do that?"

Jess laughed, "Because they've been in for long enough."

"Impossible," Becker proclaimed firmly. Then he held out the flowers to her.

Jess grinned, "Oh, those are great; they'll love them."

Becker frowned, "Who will?"

"Abby and Connor."

"Oh," Becker paused, "I, yeah, this is for their engagement, isn't it? I guess I should've gotten them some. I didn't even think about it."

Jess stared at him, puzzled, and gestured to the flowers, "But…"

"These are for you, Jessica."

"Oh," Jess' face turned bright red. Becker had bought her flowers! And she'd gone and made them both look dumb by assuming they'd been for Connor and Abby. "I, thank-you. I love them. I'm sorry, I just assumed, I didn't mean you should've gotten them flowers, I mean, I didn't get them any either, so please, don't feel badly about that."

Becker raised his eyebrows. "Jessica, I bought you flowers and you're apologizing for them." Jess bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from saying anything else and Becker laughed. "Well," he said, "I suppose we could always give them these ones."

"No!" Jess protested quickly, "They're mine!"

Becker chuckled. "Then let's get them some water. May I come in?"

Jess suddenly realised that they were still standing outside and she quickly nodded and moved aside to let him pass into the flat. They moved to the kitchen and Jess grabbed a vase and filled it with water. Becker unwrapped the flowers and placed them carefully inside.

"They're gorgeous!" Jess said, taking the vase and placing them in her bedroom. She emerged again a moment later, smiling. "Ready to go?"

Becker nodded and glanced at Jess, "You look nice, by the way." She really did, very cheery. She wore a bright yellow top and an orange skirt. Her ringlets were held back with a lime green headband that matched her lime green heels.

Jess blushed again at the compliment. "Thank-you," she replied and Becker grinned at the totally flustered expression on her face. He moved to her side and placed his hand on the small of her back as he guided her back outside to his car.

They arrived at the pub that was just around the corner from Connor and Abby's flat a few minutes later and saw Lester coming across the parking lot with his wife at the same time. Jess ran over to greet them with Becker close behind her. "Is everyone coming?" Jess called out.

"They are," Lester confirmed, "I threatened every single one of them."

"And you have the gifts?"

"In the back seat."

Jess nodded, but before she could move to Lester's car, she heard Becker call out a greeting across the parking lot and she followed his gaze to see Matt and Emily strolling hand-in-hand towards them. Jess smiled and waved at them happily.

"So," Matt greeted them as they reached the group. "They're finally getting hitched are they?"

Jess nodded excitedly, "And I was the first to know, even before Abby!" Then she blushed and glanced at Becker to see if he thought her outburst was childish, but he just grinned at her.

Lester took the moment to introduce everyone to his wife, Portia. Portia smiled as she moved to shake hands with Jess first. "So, you're the voice on the other end of the phone quite often when I call James at work. Nice to finally put a face to your name." Then she turned to the others, "To all your names, actually. James is always talking about how great you all are."

Becker raised his eyebrows, "Really? Because…" He stopped short though when he saw the death glare that his boss was giving him and Jess giggled.

"So, are we all here?" Emily asked.

Jess shook her head, "No, Jenny and Michael are coming…"

"Yay!" Emily squealed.

"As are Jack and his girlfriend Aliona."

Emily frowned, "Who?"

"Abby's brother," Lester explained. "He's the only family she's got, and as the party is for her, we figured it'd only be right to invite him too, troublemaker though he may be."

"Oh."

Jess saw Becker frown beside her too and she whispered to him quietly while Lester told Emily a bit more about Jack, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just not overly fond of Jack, that's all." Becker said, and then smiled as he realised that he was once again confiding personal information to Jess. Man, this girl was easy to open up to at times.

"Why not?"

Becker glanced at the others nearby and shrugged, "I'll tell you later."

"Promise?"

Becker nodded and, to Jess' surprise, he reached for her hand and quickly pulled it up to kiss the back of it. Jess blushed as he did so and then blushed even deeper when she noticed the strange looks that Matt and Emily gave them, but Becker didn't seem to mind as he continued to hold her hand tightly after lowering it again. Jess felt her entire body tingle with excitement at his touch.

Jenny and Michael pulled up into the parking lot a moment later. "Hi!" Jenny cried out as she ran towards them.

Jess grinned, "Gad you could make it! I was worried you'd have left for Italy already."

Jenny shook her head, "Our flight is actually in seven hours, super late time to be leaving but the airfare was cheaper. When I heard the occasion though, we had to be here."

"Oh, wow, seven hours until you leave? You guys will be zonked!"

"Don't remind me," Jenny laughed.

"And here's Jack," Becker announced as another car pulled up. Jess turned curiously, excited to finally see what Abby's brother actually looked like. She'd been excited to meet him too, until Becker's admission a moment ago. Now she was a bit nervous about it. She felt Becker tighten his grip on her hand a bit, though she thought he probably wasn't aware he had done it.

Jack, however, seemed all right to Jess. He made his way over to the group with a grin on his face. "Hey, guys! What's up? Where's Abby? Where's the party?" he tossed his hair back a bit and gestured to the girl with the blonde ponytail that stood beside him, "This is Aliona. Aliona, these are my sister's coworkers."

"Abby's at her flat," Lester replied, "It's around the corner and we're headed there now."

"Great! Party On!" Then suddenly Jack noticed that Becker was glaring at him and he turned to the soldier. "Uh, right, I guess my thanks to you for saving my life is a bit overdue, yeah?"

Becker raised his eyebrow, but Jess felt him relax a bit, but he didn't say anything.

"Yeah, so, thanks," Jack continued, "And I know you've probably heard what I said on the bus that day so I'll apologize for that too. I was in a bit of shock and that combined with the fact that I was an immature dolt at the time… well, let's just say I didn't mean it. Incident did make me rethink some things and grow up a bit though."

Aliona looked at her boyfriend and giggled, "I don't know what you're talking about, Babe, buy you're still immature."

Her commented lightened the mood and even Becker laughed. He let go of Jess and gave Jack a friendly slap on the arm, "Apology accepted, Kiddo. Let's go."

Abby held Connor's hand tightly as he whilred her around the room. After his proposal and a lot of tears and kisses from both parties, Connor had informed Abby that he had his laptop in the car with a bunch of music ready to go on it and asked if she'd like to dance with him. Abby had happily accepted and they'd been dancing now for a good half hour, during which time their eyes had remained locked to each others. They spun around the room, speaking volumes to one another with their looks, but remaining silent outwardly. It was only when a loud knock came on the door that they broke apart. Abby frowned, "Who on earth could that be?"

Connor didn't reply as Abby headed to the door to open it.

"Surprise!" Everyone yelled and "Congrats!" Abby gasped and then grinned and threw herself in for a group hug, laughing.

"You guys are too much!" She exclaimed, as she moved aside to let them all in. Then she suddenly noticed that Jack was with them and burst into fresh tears of joy as she flung her arms around his neck.

Jack hugged her back and whispered, "Congrats, Sis!" into her ear.

Abby nodded and pulled away after a moment longer. She turned to everyone, beaming, "Well, I guess this means it's a party."

Connor switched the music over to something a bit faster and Emily held up a full grocery bag, "I brought snacks!"

Aliona held up a bottle, "And Jack brought champagne."

Abby grinned, "You guys, this is incredible. We're a bit short of furniture at the moment though, we'll have to put all this on the floor."

Connor shook his head, "It can go on the window seat, Abs."

"Good thinking."

"And where do you want the gifts?" Lester asked, gesturing to the two large boxes that he and Matt had carried in.

Connor even looked surprised at that, Abby noted. "What gifts?" he asked.

Lester gestured to the boxes that were now on the floor. "This one is for Abby and the bigger one for you," he told Connor. "You guys should open them now, and at the same time."

Connor grinned and ran to his box, "Lester! You really got me a big present?"

"They're from everyone," Lester laughed, "And we didn't have time to shop, so not really, but it's the thought that counts."

"Didn't know you were so sentimental."

Abby chuckled and turned to Connor, "On three?"

Connor nodded, but Abby only counted to two before her box chirruped and Connor's said "Hi!" They ripped the loose flaps open as Nancy, Sid and Rex came hopping out joyfully. Abby squealed and jumped up to give Lester a hug.

"We figured they'd be happier here than at the ARC," Matt explained, "So we're giving them back."

"What the hell are they?" Aliona asked as Rex delightedly took to the air and circled around the familiar loft with joy.

"Rare pets," Jack told her with a grin, "Have some champagne."