Don't worry. The 'real' proposal is coming. And I won't make you wait 29 episodes…I mean chapters.
I'm looking for advice/help if anyone has run into the same problem. I can't access roughly half the PMs in my inbox. The PM and the 'bar' each PM sits in doesn't line up, so half way down the page or so (on each page of the inbox), I can't open or delete messages. I've tried two different browsers to the same issue. I tried getting the app to see if that made a difference, but all it did was load three PMs (2 from 2014 and 1 from 2016). It didn't load any other old ones and doesn't load any new ones. Has anyone else had this problem? Any solutions to either issue? Thanks!
Kensi takes Marty to a local shooting range Saturday morning. She picks one that is small and less likely to be used by professionals like herself. She also picks one that hangs circular targets and not humanoid outlines.
Marty is quiet in the morning, is quiet on the car ride over, and continues to be quiet when she checks them in. She is worried, but every time she asks him if he is sure, he tells her the same thing. He is sure. He wants to do this.
He is quiet, but he is sure.
She picks a booth at the end, away from other people, wanting to give him privacy if he needs it.
She has brought her own weapon and lays it out on the small platform between them and the shooting range. She turns to meet Marty's eyes.
"Tell me what you're feeling?" She urges.
He runs a hand through his hair. He is nervous. "I'm not quite sure."
She nods in understanding. She wants to ask him again if he's sure, but bites her tongue. He wants to do this, and she wants to support him.
He stares at the gun laying on the platform for a long moment.
"You can touch it," she urges.
He exhales a laughing breath and reaches halfway towards the gun before pausing. Then he shuts his eyes with a ragged exhale.
Kensi reaches to grip his forearm and squeezes. She knows he is wrestling his demons and she desperately wants to help. She knows he is remembering his last experience with guns. His body shudders.
"I'm here," she whispers.
"I know," he whispers back.
She stays close, allowing him time to feel his feelings. She can support him, but he's the only one who can fight off his inner demons.
When he opens his eyes, they are lighter than before. He is winning his inner war.
"Will you go first?" He asks.
"You want me to shoot?" She asks.
He nods. "Yeah."
"Okay." She nods. She waits for a long moment before reaching for the provided ear protection. She passes him one and then puts on her own. He follows suit.
She picks up her gun and turns off the safety. She glances at him before shooting, to make sure he really is okay. He offers her a small smile.
It's enough to make her move forward. She assumes an easy shooting stance and lifts her hands. She aims and fires once. Twice. Three times. Then she turns on the safety and lays the gun back down.
She glances at Marty, hoping he is okay. He is still staring at her, confident and determined. She takes off her ear protection and waits for him to do the same.
"You ready?"
He nods.
She presses the retrieval button to pull the target towards them. She removes the used target and turns to reach for another one. Marty is one step ahead of her. He is holding a fresh target out to her. She attaches it and presses the button again to return the target to the end of the range.
It's his turn.
He is uncertain. She nudges him to face the range. Her hands find his hips and guide him into a shooting stance.
She holds up the gun and waits for him to reach for it. He holds it too carefully.
"Like this," she murmurs, using her fingers to adjust his grip. "And like this," she says again as she closes her hand over his to strengthen his grip.
He takes a breath, and for a moment she wonders if this is all too much. But then his fingers adjust one at a time as he finds a comfortable grip.
"Turn off the safety when you're ready," she says, switching the safety off and then back on to demonstrate. "And then just pull the trigger and aim that way."
She replaces her ear protection and reaches to replace Marty's for him.
He holds up the gun for a long moment before switching off the safety. His fingers are unsure, but he manages to repeat the step she had shown him.
Then he raises the gun, takes a breath, and fires.
And misses. By a lot.
He releases a breath and fires again.
He misses again.
This time he laughs.
He fires again and misses again.
He puts down the gun and turns to Kensi. He removes his ear protection. "This is hard," he voices.
Whatever she may have expected him to say, that wasn't it. She laughs as she reaches to turn the safety back on for him.
"You have to aim," she tells him. She reloads the gun and then holds it up for him to see. "You look through here," she points at the sight. "And keep the gun level towards what you're aiming at."
He nods and reaches to try again. He raises the gun, and takes a long moment to line it up as she had shown him. Then he pulls the trigger and nothing happens.
She reaches to tap at the safety in reminder.
He nods and turns the safety off.
He lines up his shot again. He pulls the trigger.
And misses.
He shifts his body and raises the gun again. He takes a long moment to aim.
This time when he fires, it hits the outer ring of the target.
He turns the safety back on and puts the gun down.
When he turns to face her, he is smiling. He is proud of himself.
"That was really good, Marty," she tells him.
"It felt good," he replies. "I'm glad I came here." He pauses. "Thank you."
She reaches for his hand and then steps closer and reaches up to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'm glad this was a good experience for you."
"Can I keep the target?" He asks.
She glances down the range toward the target and then back to him. "You want to keep it?"
He nods. "We could put it on our fridge," he jokes.
She laughs and nods. "Yeah. Of course, we can keep it." She presses the button the bring it close.
Marty removes it and holds it out with a smile.
He turns to her. "I feel good," he tells her. "I expected to feel better after doing this, but I didn't expect to feel this good. I feel…freer."
"I'm glad." She reaches into her purse for a pen and finds a sharpie. She holds it out to him. "Let's date it."
He takes the sharpie and thinks for a moment before writing the date, along with 'A Good Memory.'
"Perfect."
He leans close to press a kiss to the side of her head. "Thank you."
"You ready to go?"
He surprises her when he shakes his head. "I want to watch you shoot again."
She shrugs. "Okay."
"Bet you can't beat me," he taunts jokingly, holding up his target, with the single bullet hole on the outer ring.
She tries to fight it, but he's triggered her inner competitive spirit. She sets up the range again and quickly empties her clip. Every single one hits the centre.
When she turns back, he is staring at her with open admiration. "You're amazing," he tells her. "A real superhero."
She tries to wave off his admiration, but he doesn't let her.
"Seriously, Kensi," he says. "I'm amazed by you."
"Marty," She whispers. "I'm not…"
"You are," he insists.
She ducks her head, but allows herself to smile at his words. "Thank you."
He pecks her on the cheek before holding up the sharpie again. He quickly goes to work adding another sentence to his target. Marty got his ass kicked by superhero-Kensi.
00
On Sunday morning, they go surfing.
True to his word from their second date, Marty has been teaching her to surf.
Never one to back down from a challenge, Kensi is progressing in her skills. It's not her favourite activity, but Marty's enthusiasm is contagious. She always enjoys their mornings in the water together.
"Nice one!" He calls after she surfaces from her most recent ride. She had managed to get up and stay up on a larger wave than she'd ever attempted before. And she'd ridden it almost to shore before her balance finally failed and she crashed into the water.
She's drenched, her hair is out of control and the water is freezing. But she smiles at his praise. She loves doing things like this with him.
She manages to wrangle her board towards shore. He is waiting for her and pecks her on the lips.
"One more?" He asks.
She pretends to thinks about it. Then she turns and runs into the water. "Race you out."
He is only seconds behind her. She may be the one with the physical job, but he's taller and more conditioned to the water. With his longer legs, he manages to run faster and further than her before jumping onto his board and paddling. His longer arms allow for strong strokes in the water.
He beats her. By a lot.
She sticks her tongue out at him as she finally catches up. "Cheater," she calls jokingly.
He laughs. "How am I the cheater? You got a head start."
She rolls her eyes and joins him in laughing. The waves currently rolling in are smaller than wanted. They sit on their boards beside each other, ankles hooked together to stay close, and stare together along the beach.
"It's beautiful here," she tells him. "I get why you like this so much."
"It is beautiful," she agrees, smiling at her.
She ignores the double meaning behind his words. "I like surfing with you."
He beams and carefully leans over to press a kiss to her cheek.
She turns her head and kisses his lips before he leans back away.
"I was thinking," he starts.
"Thinking is good," she cheeks.
He huffs in good nature. "I was thinking," he says again. "Maybe we could go to Hawaii and surf there."
She smiles. "You want to go away?" They both have busy jobs, so getting away together hasn't been something they've done yet, but with some planning she's pretty sure they could make it work. It's definitely something she wants to do.
"Yeah," he says, smiling back at her. "For our honeymoon."
Her heart swells at the reminder that this amazing man wants to marry her. There's only one problem. "Pretty hard to have a honeymoon without getting married," she says lightly.
He keeps smiling at her. "Oh, we're getting married."
"Really? When?"
He shrugs. "Soon."
She raises an eyebrow. "Really? Cause I don't see a ring on this finger yet, mister." She holds up her left hand.
Marty captures her hand and threads his fingers through hers. "Working on it," he tells her.
Kensi smiles at the man who loves her, who she loves, and feels the now-familiar swell of happiness in her chest. "You know, I don't actually need the ring and the proposal. I-"
"Of course, you do," he assures her. "And you're going to get it. Soon."
"Okay," she says, smiling. "And in the meantime, we can plan a honeymoon in Hawaii."
"You good with Hawaii?" He asks.
"Yes. As long as you're there with me."
He stares at her for a long moment. His eyes are more open than she's ever seen. She had hoped going to the shooting range the day before would be good for him. She had never thought it would be this good for him.
"Oh, Kens… I always want to be with you."
"Me, too, Marty." She leans in close to kiss him again. She pulls away and stares into his eyes for a long moment. "Marty?"
"Yeah?"
"Race you to shore." She presses her hands against his chest, throwing him off balance and off the board.
She turns and paddles as hard as she can along a new wave. She can hear his roaring affirmation as he accepts her challenge, but doesn't dare look back. She has to concentrate to keep her balance as she rises to her knees, and then her feet. The wave is smaller than her previous one, and she rides it easily into shore.
She beats Marty to shore. But not by much. With how close he is behind her, she wonders if maybe he let her win.
He captures her in a wet hug and laughs against the side of her head. The rising sun is well into the sky now and the sand on the beach is starting to warm. It's a beautiful morning, and she's not the least bit sorry to be spending it here with Marty.
"You're such a cheater."
She laughs along with him. "You're just slow," she calls back at him.
"I'm going to have to up my game, huh? To keep up with you?"
She smirks. "Only if you want to keep up."
"Oh, I want to. And I will."
He kisses her and then releases her.
"Want to hit the food trucks for breakfast?" She asks.
"Second breakfast?" He teases.
"I had half a bagel," she retorts. "That barely counts."
Apparently, he can't help but want to be as close to her as she does him. He steps back into her space and kisses her again. "I also had half a bagel," he reminds her.
She forces a serious expression to her face. "Then you must be starving," she deadpans.
He releases her again. "Let's get breakfast. Again."
She turns to pick up her board.
"But one more thing first," he says.
She turns back around and her eyes drop to find him.
He's on one knee in front of her. And he's holding up a ring.
"Marty…" She whispers in her surprise.
He smirks, proud of himself for surprising her. "I was going to ask out on the water." He waves his free hand behind him towards the water. "But I was terrified I was going to drop the ring."
She wants to say something in response, but she's suddenly mute. She drops to her knees in front of him.
He takes a breath and reaches for her hand. "Kensi Marie Blye. Will you marry me?"
"Yes."
For those who care to know… When I was writing a flashback of A Different Love Story where Kensi took Deeks to the shooting range for the first time in college, this is when I came up with the idea for this story.