Danny slowly brought the bottle to his lips. She said "no." The word rolled over in his head like an ocean wave.
"Hey, Mess," Don greeted as he took the seat next to Danny at the bar. He nodded at the bartender who placed a cold beer in front of him. "Man, what a day. I had her, Mess. I saw her at the bar with him. She walked in and he nudged her along to leave right then and there. I should have known. I was so close. So close… But what can you do about it now?" he asked, loosening his tie. When Danny didn't respond, he turned and looked at his friend. "Why the long face?"
"Ah," Danny grumbled. "It's nothing."
"Nothing?" Don scoffed. "Buddy, I've known you for a long time and when you have that look – yes that look – on your face, it is never 'nothing'."
Danny frowned. His friend was right, though he hated to admit it. Silence enveloped the two friends as Danny rubbed his head while he struggled to find the words and Don quietly drank his beer while he scanned the crowd, waiting for his friend to unload his burden upon him. As with every Wednesday night, they were at the local cop watering hole around the corner from the crime lab. The usual suspects were there – Mac, Sheldon, Stella, Adam… even Sid and Jess were there. But Don noticed that one face was missing.
"Where's Lindsay?" Don asked, turning his attention back to his friend.
"Dunno," Danny mumbled as he reached for his beer.
Don nodded solemnly. "Are you having problems again? I mean, as much as I love being the beneficiary of that Empires seat whenever you piss Lindsay off…" Don trailed off as Danny continued to sit sullenly in his seat. "Come on. Confess to Father Don, Mess. What happened?"
Danny swallowed. "Lindsay's pregnant."
Don's eyes widened. "Congratulation, man," he beamed.
"Shh… no one knows yet."
"Are you planning on telling… you know? When did you find out? When did this happen?" Don prodded.
"Flack," Danny said, exasperated. "I'm not a suspect, so can you please stop your interrogation and investigation? I thought confession meant that I did most of the talking."
Don apologized. "Please proceed."
"You know how Linds and I hit that rough patch after Ruben died?" Don nodded. "Well, that was because I was with another woman. I slept with Ruben's mother. And… I pushed Lindsay away and I really hurt her, I know this now. But at the time, I didn't know any better. I wouldn't say that I thought Lindsay was a just a casual fling, but I didn't realize how serious we – or more like she was. I mean, I knew from the beginning that I liked her. I had developed a little crush on her after we'd worked a couple of cases. She's different from all of these New York girls – and not just because she's from Montana. Or maybe that is the reason why she's different. Anyway, you know. I pursue her. I ask her out on lunch dates so I don't freak her out or scare her away. And she blows me off at first, but then she opens up and we become pretty good friends. Then she leaves to testify in that case and I think I'm going crazy, Don. I see her everywhere and she's obviously not there. So I go out to where she is. I go to Montana and I sit there and I listen to her testimony. And I… To be totally honest and selfish, the way she looked at me when I walked in that courtroom… I felt like a knight in shining armor – like she needed me there. Then I don't know, Don. She shows me this vulnerable side while we're out there, then when we get back to New York; she's got this tough exterior again. But we're still getting closer. We hang out more – privately. Not always in a group and not only lunch dates anymore. And then… we hook up one night at my place. And… things are good. I mean, they are great. Then I made a huge mess of things."
"Ruben's death isn't your fault, Danny. But does Lindsay know you were with his mother?" Don asked calmly, reserving judgment until he heard the whole story.
Danny shook his head, "Nah. I never told her. But I think she knows that there was someone else for a while."
"Ok… So what happened? You and Linds are pretty tight. Ruben died; you pushed Lindsay away but you felt guilty about Ruben's death and started sleeping with his mother. How in the hell did you end up getting Lindsay back? We all knew that you two had hit a bump, but…"
"You remember that arson turned kidnapping case with Stella's apartment? Well, Rikki was at my place that morning. Lindsay called me while she was still there… and I totally blew her off. I made up some lame excuses about errands to run and yada yada yada. When I came in to work later, she avoided me. I figured she was mad at me for missing her birthday and then not wanting to make it up to her by taking her to lunch. Which I should've known then that Lindsay is not one of those girls. She's not shallow or self-centered. I should've known that she wasn't mad at me over something like forgetting her birthday. But I thought it anyway. We didn't speak to each other unless it was about the case. When we were in our office making those phone calls the next day, I called her out on it. And instead of vindicating me, she drops this bombshell on me. She's not mad at me, she says. She's mad at herself because she's fallen in love with me and now she has to figure out how to let that go. I didn't know what to say or do. She's fallen in love with me? I had no clue that was how she felt. And now she has to figure out how to let that go? I was floored. I was speechless. She left before I could even string a coherent sentence together. I tried to apologize later and get her to talk, but then she got a possible lead and we left it at that. She went back to avoiding me unless it was about a case. We wouldn't get into anything personal. We were just… co-workers."
Don took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "That is… quite a… wow. I had no idea. So when did… you know? I'm under the impression that she wants very little to do with you at this moment. She confesses her feelings about you to you and you said nothing."
"Yea. She won't talk to me face to face, but I finally get her on the phone after that cheerleader with the poison kiss case. I'm scared to hell about what she's going to say, but I let it out. I let her know how I feel… for the most part. That I was sorry, that I missed her, that it would never happen again. She asks me if I have any idea how hard I am to love and I ask her to come over and tell me. She doesn't commit. She just says that she's gotta go. Then twenty minutes later, there she is – dripping wet outside my door. She doesn't say a word. I don't say a word. I just take her in my arms and kiss her. One thing leads to another. And boom. Here we are. She's pregnant and she's not expecting anything from me."
"What?"
"She said that she knows me and that she's not expecting anything from me."
"But you convinced her that she's wrong on both counts?" Don asked.
"I did," Danny assured him. "I told her that I wasn't going anywhere. But you see, I asked Lindsay to marry me the other day. And… she said 'no'." Don looked at him blankly. "She said 'no,' Don. As is 'no, Danny, I don't want to be with you'. As in 'you're not good enough after all, Danny, but thanks for the good times'."
"I highly doubt that's what Lindsay meant, Danny."
"No?" Danny challenged. "Then what did she mean?"
"Have you thought to ask her?"
"I didn't have chance. She left after she turned me down," Danny admitted.
Don chuckled softly. "Man, you have to stop this."
"Stop what?"
"Stop what? Stop this. You two have this bad habit of not dealing with things. You let each other walk away instead of talking things out rationally like adults. Talk to her, Danny. Just let it all out, bud. But also, think about how it feels to be her. What if it was her who pushed you away and found solace in someone else instead? Picture someone else's arms around her. How does that make you feel? A little queasy? Does it make you jealous? Angry? Repulsed? How would you feel if she had pursued you for so long then dropped you? Wouldn't you feel the slightest bit cheapened? What if it was you who confessed to being in love with her and she said nothing? Lindsay is a smart girl, Danny. She analyzes and observes and thinks things out before acting. I'm sure she still loves your dopey ass, but think like her. Think like the scientist you are. What have you done that would make her leap into your arms and say 'yes' without a doubt in her mind? Did you even have a ring? I'm betting not. Getting married and having a child are two of the biggest events in most peoples' lives. Normal people dream about it. Plan for it. And you are rushing into both of them with no plan of action. Where would you live? Is one of you going to have to move departments? How are you going to strap a car seat to that bike of yours? Not legal, I know. You can't charm your way out of this one, bud. You and Lindsay need to sit and really talk."
Danny sighed, "Yea, I know." He reached into his wallet, pulled out a couple of bills and placed them on the counter. "Thanks for listening, Don."
"No problem. Think about what I said, though."
"I will," Danny nodded as he left the bar, waving to his co-workers as he passed.
"Don't be a putz," Don mumbled under his breath before getting up to join everyone at the pool table.
"Where have you been?" Jessica asked him.
Don put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a kiss on the temple. "Inside the triangle."
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A/N - Personally, not a fan of how I ended this story, but I had to stop somehow. Thanks for reading. -k