Title: Her Dirt Road and His Cigarettes
Author: Jen / weisy
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Pairing: Flack/Lindsay with mentions of Flack/Aiden – I so blame Jackie for this. :(
Rating: FRT
A/N: Couple months after the end of Season Two. Okay, so it's towards the end of July early August. Oh, SCC is coming up next and I hate this. I do. :(
Summary: She's got her headlights shining down an old dirt road.
--
The summer breeze seeps its way through the cracked car windows, following its way across the faces of the two individuals, tracing and teasing its way across the flesh in a way that they find a small piece of bliss.
Her fingers curl around the steering wheel as she smiles against the breeze. To her, the breeze is what makes her love the country so. In the city, Lindsay feels as if she was being suffocated, buildings and people surrounding her, locking her to the fear and death that lingered in that city. The country, no, her country, let her find peace and comfort in the open spaces, accepting her back into what she had grown up in.
A country song plays on the radio, its sound filling up the car in a peaceful hymn as the countryside flies past them.
Besides her, in the passenger seat, sits Don Flack, his right elbow resting on the car door as he stares out the window, a blank expression lingering across his features.
This was not supposed to happen – the two of them, but because neither could control their fate of twisted lies and fears, they found themselves finding tranquility in one another's presence. Lindsay's not quite sure exactly when the thought of sharing herself with him existed but when she found him at the bar a couple weeks after the bombing, she wanted to do everything she could to help him.
It was only in her nature.
She hears him fumbling through his pockets and she casts a curious glance over to catch him pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. Lindsay hates it when he smokes, hates what it does to him but she doesn't say anything. Instead, she gives him a small look and focus back on the dirt road in front of her, trying everything she could to ignore his action focus on what she had in front of her.
He takes a long drag on the cigarette before looking over at him, his brows rising at the stern look she's giving towards the road. Exhaling, he laughs. "What'sa matter with you?"
"Nothing's the matter."
He blinks and looks out at the road before looking back at her. "Ya okay?"
She nods. "Perfect."
The song on the radio changes and he takes another drag, his head leaning back as he continues to study her. He's been a detective too long to know when the lies were too heavy to handle. "I thought you wanted to come out here." He says, gesturing with his free hand towards the open window. "You love the country and I agreed to come with you so what's the matter?"
"I've just been thinking." She tells him, her foot pressing a little harder on the accelerator. "I've been thinking about these last two months and what's going to happen when we head back to New York and go back to our every day lives."
The cigarette in his fingers suddenly feels heavy. "'Bout us?"
Again, she nods. "Yeah…us." She knows how much he loved Aiden; she could saw it in his eyes, heard the stories from Danny and even though the past two months have been full of meeting up at one another's apartments for sex, Lindsay felt as though maybe taking it to a whole new level was too dangerous and toxic. "About Aiden."
Hearing Aiden's name on her lips tastes like poison and Don shifts uncomfortably in his seat. This was dangerous territory she was crossing into and both knew it. "Aiden…what about Aiden?"
Her fingers drummed against the steering wheel at the rate of her heart beating fast against her chest. "Now listen, I'm not trying to be harsh or anything but I'm not here to take any bullshit. I know how to be tough, I know how to be strong and I'm going to come out and ask you straight up. Was the only reason why you slept with me was to erase the pain of Aiden's death?"
Rolling the window down all the way, he tosses the cigarette out before noticing the way his hands shake as he brings them back to his chest. "At first it was," he admits, his eyes looking everywhere but at her, "but it changed. I mean, I started comin' not because of Aiden but because I missed you. I know it sounds stupid but I couldn't believe it for myself either. If I really didn't want to be with you, why would I drop everythin' I was doin' in New York to come out to the country with you?"
The only response to his question comes from the peaceful harmony of violins and piano on the radio, surrounding them and suffocating them both whole.
She's biting at her lower lip, her mind racing to his words before her lips curve into a smile and nods. She wishes she could say something, anything to describe how pleased she is at his response but instead she just gives another nod and smiles.
They're both different from one another – she holds the fierce and gentle countryside while he holds the wit and country smart of the boroughs, both equally balancing one another out – and when she feels the summer breeze trace and linger across her face, she can't help but smile and reach over to turn the dial on the radio louder as they continued to drive on the only dirt road that leads them anywhere but back to what they had left from.
FIN.