A/N – I've received so many excellent suggestions for chapters in this six chapter story! This one begins incorporating several at the same time.

Hoosier65 – thanks for asking for more Deeks in a top hat.

Honus 47 – thanks for the suggestion about Cassie's wedding and a song for her

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Chapter 24

Kensi rolled over on her back and groaned. What had possessed her to drink so much last night? She reached over to Deeks's side of the bed to find it empty and cold. She cracked open one eye and closed it again. Too bright! Moving ever so slowly, she rolled over on her side and opened the eye again, just a crack this time, to look at the bedside clock. 10:30? Thank God today was Saturday. She then noticed the other items on the bedside table; a glass of water and bottle of aspirin. She smiled slightly, he knew her so well. Her hangover headaches were legendary. Thankfully she didn't get nauseous on top of them. Very carefully she levered herself up and sat on the edge of the bed. Her head was literally going to explode. She looked at the aspirin bottle and moaned softly. She didn't think she had the strength to even attempt to open it. Reaching out slowly, she grabbed it and tried the top only to find it already loosened. She would have to reward him later and, knowing just what he would suggest as his reward, she felt a shiver go down her spine. So not the time to be thinking about that! She shook three of the pills into her hand and washed them down with the water.

She sat quietly for a couple minutes, thinking about last night. It had been a girl's night out with Michelle, Joelle, Nell, Cindy and Laura. Cassie and Paula hadn't been able to make it as Cassie's mother was in town to talk wedding. Cindy had been the designated driver as she was still nursing Little Chris. She'd gotten them into a local club where Chris's band played from time to time. The manager had seated the group in the VIP area and started them off with a bottle of free champagne. It had all gone downhill from there. She wondered if any of the others who had been drinking last night felt as bad as she did this morning. Who would have guessed that Laura Shelton, old money debutante, wife of a Navy Admiral, could put them away like that? She'd pretty much drunk all of them under the table. Kensi barely remembered the ride home. She had a vague memory of Deeks gently putting her to bed. She looked down at her clothes. She was dressed in one of his t-shirts and her favorite pair of sleeping shorts. Ok, now she really owed him. She smiled, realizing she'd had a really good time last night. Since she and Deeks had finally given in and started a relationship outside work, her circle of girlfriends had grown. Who knew one needed a boyfriend for that to happen? On top of that, she could be herself with these women. They either knew what she did or at least that she was in law enforcement like him. It made it so much easier to have fun when you weren't worrying about blowing your 'what I do for work' cover story.

The guys had had a night out as well, although she didn't think playing poker, drinking beer and smoking cigars at Callen's could be considered a night out. They'd had to all bring their own chairs for Pete's sake! She hoped they'd had as good a time as the girls had. She shook her head and regretted it immediately as her head reminded her of it's presence. It would take a while for the aspirin to kick in but right now she needed the bathroom badly. She levered herself off the bed and shuffled carefully out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. After taking care of business and washing her face with cold water, she felt a little more human. She wandered out into the living room to find Deeks sitting on the couch, his cell phone held loosely in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. He was staring off into space, not even noticing her presence. She frowned, now worried that something was wrong. He was never this still and he would never just ignore an opportunity like this. At the least, he should be making some snarky comment about the condition she'd come home in last night.

"Deeks?" she asked quietly. When there was no response she asked again, louder this time "Deeks? What's wrong? Is someone hurt?"

He startled and turned to her. "What? Oh, no. No, no, no, nothing like that. I just called Paula to tell her that I got the paperwork confirming my ordination to perform the wedding and she told me they finalized the wedding plans last night with her and Cassie's moms."

"So why do you look like someone just died?"

"They've decided to do a themed wedding. A formal ball of all things! The men all have to wear top hats and tails! There's no way I can get out of this, I already told them I'd officiate. The guys are never going to let me live this down!"

Kensi immediately felt guilt wash over her. This might be her fault. She may have told Cassie and Paula a few weeks ago about the time the guys had pranked Deeks with top hat, cane and white gloves. She may also have repeated Hetty's slightly disturbing comment about men in top hats being intoxicating and her wondering what Deeks would look like dressed up like that. She knew she'd gone all dreamy eyed at the image in her head but she hadn't thought they'd take her comments seriously and end up doing a themed wedding. Her face reflected her feelings and Deeks narrowed his eyes at her. She knew immediately that he suspected. If she hadn't been so hungover, she thought, she would have had a better poker face.

"Kensi Marie Blye! Did you have something to do with this?"

"Um..." was her brilliant response.

"You did! What could you have possibly said that would make them go in this direction?"

"Um, I might have said I thought you'd look very handsome dressed in top hat and tails. After all, you do own one."

He looked at her in amazement and then said "You do realize you're going with me and are going to have to dress in the appropriate style as well. I'm also pretty sure that they're going to invite your little circle of drinking buddies from last night, which means Sam, Callen, Chris, Eric and Admiral Shelton are all going to have to dress up as well!" He knew he shouldn't feel better at the sight of her mouth dropping open but he couldn't suppress it. He started to smile when he remembered the other shoe.

"Crap, they also want me to write a song for them as a wedding present! Kens, what am I going to do? I still haven't come up with something for Joelle or Michelle. The guys have kind of forgotten about it but if it gets out that I'm writing a song for the wedding, it's all going to heat up again! They also gave me the date for the wedding. It's only two months away! I'm toast!" his voice rose with each sentence, sending shock waves through her head. She winced and he was instantly contrite. "I'm sorry! How's your head this morning, Fern? You were totally hammered when you got home at the very early hour of 2 AM."

He reached out to her and she sat gingerly on the couch next to him. He moved over, put a pillow in his lap and pulled her down so that her head was on the pillow. He started rubbing her temples and scalp and she moaned at how good it felt. "I'm sorry Deeks! I never thought they would take an offhand story and turn it into their wedding. I never would have said anything if I had known!"

He sighed. "It's not all your fault, Kensalina. It's not like you twisted their arms. Cassie and Paula have always done their own thing, if they hadn't liked the idea; nothing you did or said would have made them pick this as their wedding theme."

She snuggled deeper into the pillow, glad he wasn't really angry with her. She would deal with the rest of her team when the invitations were received. "You know, there's really no reason why you can't write those songs. You're very talented and shouldn't have to be in pain and hurting to be able to produce something beautiful. The song you guys played at Studio 6 wasn't all about losing someone, part of it was about finding someone too. That wasn't written from pain. You should try to recapture that feeling."

He went quiet for a while, his only movement his hands on her head, trying to sooth away the headache he knew from experience was making her feel awful. Was she right? Was he just assuming he couldn't do it? If he was honest with himself, he hadn't really tried. He'd just put it off until something more important had taken its place in the lives of his male teammates. He looked down to let her know what he was thinking only to find her sound asleep, her mouth slightly open and looking for all the world like a slightly tousled angel. He leaned his head back on the couch cushions and started humming under his breath. He closed his eyes and tried to picture the chords in his head. The words would come later, that's how he always composed. Maybe, just maybe, he could do this.