This is my homage to the inevitable end of summer!!
Summer Love
Chapter 1: Innocent Enough…
Looking back on it…. It all started out innocently enough.
FLASHBACK
"Linds, we need to get him to the hospital. He's banged up pretty bad." Flack suggested as they made their way out of the warehouse.
She nodded, not trusting her voice. They found a nearby ambulance and they medics quickly took over.
"C'mon, I'll give you a ride." Flack told her, herding her towards his truck.
Again, all she could do was nod. At this point, she knew the moment she opened her mouth, she'd start to cry.
She climbed into his truck and they set off towards the hospital.
"Lindsay. He's going to be fine. The medics even said it. He just needs some minor repairs. He'll be OK." Flack told her a few minutes into the ride, hoping to reassure her.
"It's my fault. I should have been there. It should have been me." She whispered hoarsely.
"Linds.. Don't say that. Please don't say that. It would have been 10 times worse for you." Flack replied with a soft sigh.
"How could it have been any worse that what happened to Danny?!" She exclaimed.
Sensing her breaking point was near, he quickly pulled over and turned to her, ready to set her straight.
"How could it have been worse? Seriously Linds? You could have been raped, beaten, killed! Men like that… Women are nothing but objects to them.. I don't even want to think about what they would've done to you. Not to mention what would have happened once Danny and I got our hands on them… Trust me, and Danny will agree, it was better him than you." Flack finished.
Lindsay sat there, her mouth slightly open, temporarily stunned. Flack had never once spoken to her that way before, and she was sufficiently shocked.
"We good now?" He questioned, snapping her out of her trance.
She nodded, unable to speak because she was still reeling a bit at Flack's explanation.
4 HOURS LATER
Danny was out of surgery and now they were waiting to speak to the doctor.
In that 4 hour timespan Danny's parents had shown up and successfully made Lindsay feel about 2 inches tall.
Flack had stayed through the whole ordeal, mostly because he wanted to be sure Danny was alright, but he recognized the awkwardness that meeting the family can cause. Especially Danny's family. He had a hunch that this wouldn't help matters much.
"You're this Lindsay girl my boy talks about?" Mrs. Messer asked upon being introduced to Lindsay.
"Yes ma'am." She'd replied with a slight smile.
"You are not what I expected. You put my son through a lot of grief. But he said you had good reason." Anna Messer stated coolly.
Lindsay nervously glanced over at Flack, not entirely sure how to respond to that. "Be nice Anna. Now's not the time to attack people." He told her, then quickly steered Lindsay away.
"Danny's her baby. She makes overprotective look like child abuse." He explained as they moved to the other side of the waiting room.
She smiled. "Thanks for saving me. I wasn't prepared for that." She told him softly, staring down at her hands.
"I'm not gonna lie. They're a tough group, and as far as his parents are concerned, Danny's the world and we're all revolving around him. No woman is good enough in Anna Messer's eyes." Flack said as he leaned back in his chair.
"Great. Well that's just what I wanted to hear. Parents normally love me, you know." She replied glumly.
"I believe it. But…. Well, Danny's parents are far from normal… After all, he is the baby of the family." Flack pointed out.
"Yeah… But so are you. I'm sure your mother is just as protective." She agreed, trying to cheer herself up.
Flack snorted. "Ha… My ma would be over the moon if I brought you home. She'd have the wedding planned before we got out the door." He said with a laugh.
Despite the situation, she laughed as well.
ACROSS THE ROOM
Anna Messer watched this Lindsay woman with slitted eyes. "She's not suited to my Danny. She's not even from the city. She's from Montana. What does she know about living here? Living with a family like this? She must not care much for her family if she moved all the way across the country and left them behind." She told her husband.
He barely glanced up at her. "Anna dear you know I agree, but Danny is a big boy. We cannot stop him from seeing her." He reminded his wife.
"Do you think he really cares about this one?" She asked her husband, ignoring his previous statement.
"Obviously he must care to some degree dear, otherwise he'd never have mentioned her." He replied, not evening looking up from his paper.
"Look at her and Don. They are much better suited for each other. They look like they belong together. She would be out of place with Danny." She rambled on, again not bothering to listen to her husband's response.
This time he looked up. She had a bit of a point, at least on the surface, Lindsay and Don appeared to get along quite well and her and Flack would make an attractive couple.
"Anna dear, Danny tells me this woman is good for him. She's a nice girl. She makes him happy, she keeps his nose clean. You did that for me, remember?" He told her. In truth, he wasn't entirely convinced this girl from Montana was the right one for his son, but Danny did what he pleased, and he'd learned that long ago. Now if only he could get Anna to understand this.
"I do. But we were different. Danny… He knows nothing of relationships. This one… This one is not the one. They will only hurt each other." She said and just like that, the conversation was closed.
"Mr. & Mrs. Messer?" A voice from the doorway questioned.
Danny's parents stood and the doctor quickly approached. He explained everything in hushed tones, Flack and Lindsay couldn't hear a word.
A moment later, Cal Messer nodded and removed himself from the conversation. He stepped over to where Lindsay and Don were sitting.
"They say he is out of surgery and resting. We're going to visit him now. You can go in when we get out." Cal told them softly.
They murmured their thanks and watched them head off towards Danny's room.
"They don't like me." She said plainly.
"They don't like any of the women. They've only ever liked one of Danny's girls, and she's long gone. It's nothing personal." He assured her, patting her knee absently.
DANNY'S HOSPITAL ROOM
"Ma… I don't want to go to Florida with you and Dad. I'm fine. It was a few minor bleeds. They set my fingers. I can go back to work in a few days." He protested.
"More like a few weeks according to the doctor. And some physical therapy. And you have the ability. I think you could use some time away from the city. Spending the summer in Florida would be good for you." His mother argued.
Danny looked to his father for help. "I agree with her son. You have short term disability and the doctor said this would qualify. This has been a hard year for you and you haven't taken any time off." His father pointed out.
"I did. I went to Montana." Danny replied angrily.
"That was not vacation. That was a silly chase after a girl who disappeared without even saying goodbye." His mother corrected.
"Ma…" Danny warned, his voice clearly indicating that all subjects involving Lindsay were clearly off limits.
"It doesn't matter, we've already bought the ticket. It's non-refundable. The doctor says you can be discharged tomorrow or Saturday. We leave Sunday." His mother went on.
"I can't believe you'd do that. I don't want to go." He told her, clearly upset.
"You may not want to. But you need to. You haven't been out of the state for vacation in 5 years. It's time." His father stated, obviously not in the mood to argue.
Danny sighed. He couldn't deny the truth in their words. It had been ages since he'd just taken a regular vacation. And he could find ways to escape his parents. The only thing holding him back…. Lindsay. Granted, they'd only just been together the previous night but she was finally within his grasp and he didn't want to lose that opportunity.
"Let me think about it. Can you send in Lindsay?" He asked his parents.
His mother started to protest but his father interjected. "We'll get her and Flack." His father told him and ushered him out of the room.
Danny rolled his eyes and nodded, knowing what his parents were up to. He knew they'd have a problem with Lindsay, but he'd hoped they'd be further along in the relationship before they met her.
A moment later, Flack and Lindsay appeared in the door.
"How are you?" Lindsay asked, coming to stand next to his bed. Flack stood at the foot, waiting for Danny's response.
"I'm OK. Better than they thought. Flack, buddy, I appreciate you coming, and I don't mean to be rude, but could I have a minute alone with Montana?" He asked, hoping Flack would understand.
Flack nodded "Sure. Glad you're feeling better Messer." He said, tapping the bed for good measure before stepping out and closing the door behind him.
"What's up?" She asked softly as she took a seat next to him.
He wrapped his good hand around hers. "My parents… They want me to take some time off. They want me to get away from New York." He told her.
She nodded. "You haven't taken any vacation. That would probably be good for you." She agreed.
"They want me to go to Florida." He continued, watching her expression closely.
"Florida would be good for you, sun, ocean… Relaxing on the beach…" She said, agreeing again. Inside, she felt like she was about to cry, but she needed to get on his parents' good side, and maybe this was the way to do it.
"For the whole summer." He finished, waiting for her to get upset.
"I'll miss you Danny, but you need this. Go… I'll be here when you get back." She mustered, successfully swallowing the lump in her throat.
He was amazed. He really thought she'd have more to say. "Well, it's settled then." He said, more than a little miffed that she was so OK with all of it.
"Danny, don't… I'm just… I agree. You need some time, and really, if you don't want to go, you don't have to. So since you're bringing it up, you obviously want to go." She pointed out.
He sighed and squeezed her hand. "I do kind of want to go." He admitted.
"Then go. It's only a few months. You'll feel so much better when you come back." She told him, smiling.
He pulled her hand and she stood and brushed a quick kiss to her lips. "I'm coming back for you." He promised.
"You better." She returned, her hand cupping his face.
With that, she turned and left. She waited until she was out of sight and found a stairwell. She sat down the top stair and let the tears fall.
They were taking him away. They didn't want her to take care of him. They didn't trust her. She knew it. She knew they hated her.
Flack had just grabbed a cup of coffee and turned the corner when he saw Lindsay disappear into a stairwell.
Thinking this was a bit odd, he followed. He listened at the door a moment and heard her sobbing.
Without another thought, he pushed through the door and there she was, sitting on the top step, crying.
She looked over and saw who her visitor was. "What happened?" He asked, sitting down next to her.
"I am such a girl!" She wailed, covering her face with her hands.
"Well, yes you are, but what does that have to do with this?" He questioned, hoping to lighten the mood, as he wasn't very accustomed to dealing with crying women. It didn't seem to have any effect on the crying woman next to him.
"They're taking him to Florida for the whole summer because they don't trust me to take care of him. They don't want me doing it…." She sobbed miserably.
He sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Remember what I told you about taking this stuff personally?" He asked.
He felt her nod against him. "That applies here. She just wants to get him out of town for awhile, baby him… And he's just not in a place to say no, that's all." He assured her.
He really wished he believed what he was telling her. He knew how the Messers worked. Anna Messer was very good at meddling. He knew exactly what she was doing. She was trying to push Lindsay out of the picture. But at this very moment, Lindsay didn't need to know that.
"It's gonna be fine.Look, it'll go by fast. You'll work, we'll hang out, see a few bands. He'll be back before you know it." He assured her.
END FLASHBACK
See? Totally innocent. But it's those innocent things that become the most problematic… You never see them coming.
OK so there you go!!!!