Danny's fingers tapped out a restless cadence on his thigh, his body humming with impatience and nervous energy. He shifted his weight from his right foot to his left foot and let out a forceful sigh as he glanced at his watch. It had been less than two minutes since he entered Carbone's Pizzeria and yet it felt like an eternity. Danny was certain everyone was moving at an exceptionally slow pace just to irritate him. The man at the counter changed and added to his order multiple times, pausing to think between each statement like he performing complicated algorithms in his head instead of ordering pizza. The girl behind the counter had her head tilted to one side with a bored look on her face. She nodded ambivalently and snapped her gum while casually jotting down his order.

Danny glared at the pair of them, his eyes narrow slits behind his glasses. He focused his gaze on the back of the man's neck and mentally encouraged him to hurry up, which amounted to rattling off a string of indictments against the man's intelligence, character and family punctuated by every curse word he knew. The man did not get the message and Danny sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

It wasn't like he was in a hurry. On the contrary, he had too much time. Even so, all he wanted to shove the man out of the way, order a slice of pepperoni and spend the next ten minutes doing nothing except eating that greasy pizza. After that, he'd figure out something else to distract him. It would have been a relief to head to the softball field or to the bar with some friends, at least then he'd have something to take his mind of the thing he was trying so desperately not to think about.

Danny looked down and began counting the dingy and chipped tiles that lined the floor of the pizzeria. He was at sixty-seven when the girl handed over three pizza boxes and a drink carrier to the man and he shuffled clumsily out of the way towards the door.

Muttering one last insult under his breath, Danny stepped forward and placed his hands on the counter, choosing to ignore the sticky residue he felt beneath his fingers. Before the girl could open her mouth to ask what he wanted, he blurted out, 'A slice of pepperoni and a Coke,' and he thrust a ten dollar bill at her. With a glare of her own, the girl mutely dumped his change into his hand and turned to where the pizzas were being kept warm under the yellow glow of the heat lamps.

After what Danny considered to be far too long of a time, he finally had his slice of pepperoni in one hand and an ice-cold Coke in the other. He maneuvered through the maze of tables and chairs and sat down at the counter in front of the window.

He stared at the plate for a minute and thought briefly about another time he had sat in this pizza place, laughing and drinking beers with . . . Danny shook his head to clear away the memory. 'Don't go there, Messer,' he muttered before picking up his pizza and taking a bite. He grabbed the cheese with his fingers so it wouldn't slide off entirely and contentedly chewed his bite of pizza, savoring the greasy deliciousness of it. There was nothing in the world but that amazing slice of pizza.

After he had devoured half of the gigantic slice, he paused to slurp his soda, the cold liquid a relief to his slightly burned tongue. Just as he was setting the cup back down he spotted someone outside the window and he froze.

The man was crossing the street, his hands buried in the pockets of his trench coat and eyes cast downward toward the pavement. Danny's heart began to race and a flush crept over his cheeks and ears. He hasn't seen me yet, Danny thought frantically as he cast about for something to use as a cover. There was nothing on the counter, no menus or newspapers, just an empty expanse of grimy Formica. Short of pulling his jacket over his head or diving behind the wall, Danny couldn't think of anything to hide himself that wouldn't immediately attract the attention of the man and everyone in the restaurant.

He resorted to putting his head down and shoveling his pizza into his mouth. Danny could feel himself getting hotter and beads of sweat broke out on the back of his neck. He wondered if he had passed by yet or maybe if he had gone the other direction to go by the dry cleaner's instead of Carbone's. Danny closed his eyes and finished chewing, swallowing the lump of cheese and dough with difficulty. Please have turned left instead of right. Left. Left. Left, he chanted before opening his eyes and raising his head slightly.

There, standing just on the other side of the glass, was Detective Don Flack. Danny instinctively dipped his head, like just maybe if he looked away Don wouldn't really be there. When he looked back up at the other man he watched as Don's expression changed seamlessly from surprise to confusion to hurt. Danny instantly felt ashamed and while he wanted to do something, anything, to take it back, he couldn't get himself to move. He sat immobilized on his stool, hands gripping the counter as he watched Don turn away from the window and walk away down the street.

He kept watching Don's back until the other man disappeared from view. His eyes remained on that spot in the distance as the thoughts he had been trying to suppress flooded his brain. Danny had spent the last day and a half trying to pretend that nothing had happened, wishing that he could walk into the police department and nothing would have changed. But now everything had changed and he was not ready to deal with it. What had they done? He and Don had been friends, good friends, but now Danny knew that they had messed it up.

He ran his hands roughly over his head and squeezed his eyes shut. In that brief second of darkness, Danny thought of the heat of Don's body and the softness of his lips, and he remembered that in the moment it had felt good, it had felt right. Even though he had panicked and broken their kiss, it had felt right. It was really only later, when he had had time to think and worry about what had happened, that it felt wrong. After he had thought about what other people would say or how they would look at him, he had felt mortified and guilty. Danny had decided then that it had been a mistake.

After seeing Don's face through the window, however, Danny resolve began to falter. The look of hurt in Don's eyes had been seared into Danny's brain. He never wanted to see that look again, especially when it was directed at him.

'Fuck!' Danny exclaimed, ignoring the looks from the other customers. He began tapping his fingers frenetically against his leg again. He was torn. He could stay sitting here at Carbone's and never mention what had happened again. He'd have to deal with the repercussions of Don's hurt and anger, which most likely would be the end of their friendship and the development of a really uncomfortable working relationship as well. Danny didn't think he could handle that.

Or he could go after Don and try to explain and to apologize. There was no guarantee that Don would hear him or forgive him and could still very likely result in the end of their friendship and an uncomfortable working relationship. But they would have talked about it and that might make some small difference in this mess.

Danny sighed and chewed on his bottom lip, mulling over his options. To stay or to go, to stay or to go. While staying at Carbone's and avoiding an awkward confrontation sounded delightful, Danny knew it was the coward's choice. The reason he didn't want to go see Don was that he was scared. He was scared of what the kiss meant, scared that Don wouldn't accept his apology, scared that their friendship would never be the same. He told himself that he was just pulling himself together as he delayed getting up off that stool, but in the end it took a huge effort for him to stand up and walk out of Carbone's.

The temperature had dropped and the wind had picked up while Danny had been inside. He hunched his shoulders reflexively to the cold and slowly set off towards Don's apartment. A nervous fluttering had begun in the pit of his stomach.

If Danny was truly honest with himself, he had also thought of a third option - he could go after Don and kiss him again.