"Danny, what are you doing here?" Lindsay asked warily. It was late and she was tired and cranky and he was the last person that she wanted to be talking to at the moment.

"Linds, we gotta talk, remember?" Danny leaned against the door frame.

"Can't it wait?"

"No. We gotta talk right now. "

Lindsay sighed but moved aside so that he could enter her apartment. He walked past her and made himself right at home on her couch. At least he had the decency to look guilty.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" Danny asked when Lindsay joined him on the sofa.

"Which part?" Lindsay knew exactly what he was referring to, but she wanted to hear him say it. She knew that it would make him uncomfortable and felt that he deserved it.

"The bit about… well, you fallin' in love with me." The look on his face as he said this almost made Lindsay smile. Almost.

"Yes, Danny, I meant it." She'd meant every word of it. She truly wasn't mad at him, just disappointed that he hadn't come to her for help. It had taken her a lot of courage to allow him to help her through her trial and here he was, shutting her out without even batting an eyelash.

"Linds… I don't know how ta tell you this…" Danny trailed off.

"Don't worry, Danny, I know," Lindsay said quietly.

"No, I don't think you do, Linds," Danny's voice sounded pained and pinched. He ran a hand through his hair and pushed his glasses up with his knuckles.

"I know about Rikki," Lindsay said, causing Danny's head to snap up to meet her eyes.

"You… you do?"

"Yeah." Lindsay's eyes filled with tears, much to her dismay. She didn't want him to see how much he'd hurt her. It made her feel weak and she just wanted to be strong. She turned away briefly, allowing herself to regain composure.

"How?" Danny managed to squeak out.

"I just did. It's one of those things I just can't really explain. I mean, when I called you yesterday I knew something was up. I knew you'd been spending a lot of time with her since Ruben died and I… just knew."

"Lindsay, I'm so sorry."

"Sorry doesn't make the hurt go away, Danny." It was no use trying to hide her tears now. She let them roll down her cheeks, hardly bothering to wipe them away.

"It was a mistake."

"Yes, it was."

"It didn't mean anything."

"That makes it worse, Danny. If you felt something for her, if you cared about her more than you cared about me, I might be able to understand. But you just did it to make yourself forget, didn't you? You were trying to ease the guilt and somehow sleeping with Ruben's mother helped."

She'd hit the nail right on the head and it showed in Danny's face. "I do care about you a lot, Lindsay, you know that right?"

"I'm not really sure of anything at this point, to be honest with you."

"I'm pretty sure I'm fallin' in love with you," Danny half whispered.

"Don't give me that." Lindsay was now beginning to grow angry.

"What? I'm bein' honest!"

"I have a hard time believing that. People who are falling in love don't go around sleeping with other people." Lindsay shook her head. "I haven't trusted anybody the way I trusted you in a long time. I put my faith in you, Danny. I put so much faith in you and you just threw it away."

Tears glimmered in Danny's eyes. "What can I do to make it better, Lindsay? Please, don't say that there's nothing I can do… please."

Lindsay swallowed the lump in her throat. "No more sleepovers with Rikki, for starters." She choked out.

"I know, I know. It won't happen again. I swear it to you, Lindsay." He reached out and hesitantly took her hand. To his surprise she didn't pull away.

"Don't expect me to trust you right away."

"I don't. I know that I don't deserve your trust. But, Lindsay, I'm not ready to give up what we have. Please tell me that you're not either."

"I'm not," she admitted quietly.

Danny managed to give her a half smile. "Good."

"You've got to stop pushing me away, Danny."

"I know. I will. I want to make this better. I'll do whatever it takes."

A/N They'll make it better. : Anyway, I'd like to credit the inspiration for this fic to Paramore. It's loosely based on their songs For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic; Misery Business; and When it Rains. For those of you who don't know (or who do know and want Paramore to get proper credit) those lines about putting so much faith in him and him throwing it away comes from For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic. Ok. That's it.

xoxo

Lia