A/N: Hi guys, so... while I've been really sick these past few days (seriously, for the next week I have to take 8 tablets a day - not including painkillers - FML!), I have kind of lost my mojo with writing - both academically and for fun. Which ain't good. So, with the looming 3500 word assignment I have due this week, I figured of course, it'd be a wise idea to crunch out some DL to get the creative muse flowing... which will hopefully benefit academic writing tomorrow (yeah, right - who am I kidding? pahahah).

So, anyway. Here's a future DLL story for you guys. I figured I'd write a future one because well... by the time we get to see Lucy again she'll be in High School, so it'll be good practice for the post-ep right? *wishful thinking* *come on, PTB, prove me wrong? k?*

So yeah, Fred really hopes that you like what we came up with! :)

Never Gonna Be Alone - Nickelback.

"You're never gonna be alone, I'll hold you till the hurt is gone."

The sounds of a sobbing Lucy Messer could be heard within the Messer household as their front door slammed shut with an accompaniment of stomping size five feet, clambering up the stairs as she desperately made her way to her room. Seconds later, her bedroom door slammed shut; leaving Danny and Lindsay Messer with baffled expressions on their faces.

"Wasn't Lucy out with Jack tonight, Linds?"

Lindsay glanced to the clock and took a deep breath. "It's three hours before curfew. I'm guessing something happened?"

"I'll kill him," Danny muttered. "They won't even find his little scrawny body."

Lindsay growled at her husband before standing up from her seat on the couch and moved to sit on his lap in his favourite recliner. She wrapped her arms around his neck affectionately and nestled her face in his neck as she settled on his lap. "I'm not bailing you out again. We discussed this with your parole officer. You can't kill another one of the boys that falls for your girl and then hurts her. I know it hurts you, but the teenage boy population in the state of New York is slowly being depleted."

"Ha-ha very funny, babe." Danny scowled at his wife. "You carry on watching this crap on TV," Danny teased her lightly, "Let me go talk to her?"

"Danny, I don't think it's wise you going when..."

"Let me go talk to her, babe?" he pleaded. "I'll behave, I promise."

She slid off his lap and sighed. "Please be nice to her. Don't be a smartass."

"Linds, come on." He implored as he stood and pressed a kiss to his wife's forehead. "It's me; when she needs me, I can be a good dad... Plus it was your turn last time, right?"

"Well you better prepare yourself; she's gonna be seriously broken hearted this time." She began as she snuggled into Danny's recliner. "She was convinced Jack was 'the one'."

"What?" Danny spluttered. "Has she forgotten she's sixteen? For cryin' out loud; does she do this to me on purpose?"

"No." Lindsay smirked as she flicked through the channels with Danny's treasured remote control, "But I do enjoy how flustered you get over it."

"This is your father's fault." Danny began. "I'm not sure how, but I know there's a link there somewhere. He's inflicting this on me now."

"Right, sure... whatever you say, sweetheart." Lindsay nodded as she rolled her eyes and swatted him so he moved out of her sight of the TV and happily absorbed the latest re-run of Friends.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Danny made his way to his daughter's bedroom; her weeping breaking his heart as he settled outside her door. He knocked his trademark knock and waited for her to answer her door.

"GO AWAY!"

"Kiddo, it's me; let me in."

"Dad! Go away; I don't want to talk about it."

"Lucy, please... Come on, can I come in?"

He heard his daughter sniffle and blow her nose before agreeing in a small voice.

He was in her room within seconds and on her bed even quicker. He sighed heavily as he perched on the edge, his hand slowly tracing up and down her back as she faced the wall. Lucy sobbed for a few more minutes before merely sniffling and gripping to her worn and well loved pink bunny that Danny had grabbed from the gift shop in the Hospital while Lindsay was in labour all those years ago. Danny shuffled closer to her and leant down to press a kiss to her tear stained cheek.

"I really liked him," Lucy whispered as she snuggled her bunny close to her chest.

Danny sighed as he tucked Lucy's curled hair behind her ear. He sighed heavily as he took in her stained make up and messy hair, effectively breaking his heart. "Baby, come on don't cry about it."

"Dad, no." She sobbed. "Send Mom up if you're gonna be a pain in the ass."

Danny went for her hand and tugged her upright so that she was looking at him. He reached forwards and wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb. "You know exactly what's coming next, don't you?"

"He is worth my tears!" She protested. "I really liked him, Daddy."

"I know you did sweetheart," Danny tried to reason with her, despite his venomous hatred directed towards the little snot rag that had warranted such a reaction from his usually head-strong little girl. "But he's not worth it if he's going to make you cry like this." He gently reminded his daughter.

"He is!" she cried.

"He's not, baby," Danny whispered as he handed her a tissue from her bedside table. "He isn't worth a second of your time or your thoughts."

"Mommy could have said that about you."

Danny sighed. "Mommy probably did say that about me, but this isn't about Mommy. It's not her heart that's breaking, is it?"

Lucy shook her head. "He broke up with me."

"I thought as much," Danny nodded. "What happened, sweetpea?"

"He did it in front of everyone, Dad." Lucy whispered, fresh tears pouring down her face as she obviously relived the moment. "He did it with a smile on his face."

Despite the anger that was bubbling inside of Danny, he let out a calm breath and pulled his daughter close. "Come on baby, you know he's not worth these tears. You know he's not worth it."

"I can't ever go to school again." Lucy declared as a tear fell onto Danny's shirt. "I want to be home-schooled." She paused for a moment and sniffled. "Strike that, I don't want it, I need to be home-schooled, Dad; starting tomorrow. You can set that up, right?"

"You're being ridiculous." Danny laughed at the absurdity of his daughter's request. "Lucy can you hear yourself? A social butterfly like you would hate being home-schooled. You need to get a grip."

"The entire school will know by now and..."

"And what? Everyone will know how much of a jerk Jack is." Danny finished. "Luce, he's so not worth it. I mean he plays soccer for crying out loud. You wanna get in with Science Club. That's where the real boys are."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at her father. "Dad, really?"

He winked playfully at her, before shrugging. "Okay, maybe try the baseball team before you go to the Science club."

"And you speak from experience, right?"

"Absolutely." Danny nodded, his humour bringing some much needed light to their conversation. "I'm tellin' ya Luce, you're lucky... I wanted to violate my parole and go beat his ass."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "I don't get that joke between you and Mom. It's not even funny, Dad. You've never even been arrested." she huffed. "You've never even been done for a drunk and disorderly. The worst you've ever had is a parking ticket that Uncle Mac wrote off anyway because it technically wasn't your fault... so this whole parole joke is crap. You and Mom need to stop being losers."

"Come on Lu, lighten up, we've been over this before... it's just Mom teasing me because she thinks I'm protective."

"You protective?" Lucy snorted sarcastically. "Where on earth would Mom get such a ludicrous idea from? You should look into getting her sectioned for coming up with such-"

"Alright, alright, we all know where you get your sarcasm and dramatics from, Lucy..." Danny chuckled and pulled Lucy into his side. "Listen, I know it sucks growing up, Lu." He could feel her trembling next to him, fighting new tears. "You're going to go through a million more break ups and heartbreaks before you find your Prince, but it'll be worth it, kiddo. Look at who your Mom ended up with – she hit the jackpot with me."

"Way to make me feel better, Dad." Lucy growled through her tears.

Straightening up on his daughter's bed, Danny wiped Lucy's tears away and cupped her face. "How about I give you one of those loser Dad hugs you secretly like so much, 'till it doesn't hurt as much; how does that sound?"

Lucy blinked before breaking out into another sob. "I really liked him, Daddy."

"I know kiddo," he whispered as he enclosed his daughter in his arms, "I know you did."

A soft knock sounded at the door and daughter and father turned and were greeted by Lindsay, holding a small tub of ice cream with three spoons; wedged into the creamy substance. "Any room for me? I've got reinforcements." Lindsay said softly, her eyes trained on her little girl.

Lucy nodded and shifted slightly, making room for Lindsay on the other side of her; so that Lucy was wedged in between her parents.

Lindsay quickly made her way to Lucy's bed and wrapped her arms around her sniffling daughter. Pressing a delicate kiss to her daughter's temple, Lindsay let out a sigh as her eyes finally met her husband's. Silently, he filled her in on everything that had gone down between the two of them.

After giving his wife and daughter a few moments of time to do 'their thing', Danny shuffled closer to his wife and daughter and wrapped his arms around the both of them; effectively encasing their daughter in a protective bubble as best they could. And together, they got their first real taste of what it was to be a parent to a sixteen year old suffering her first 'real' heartbreak. They couldn't promise her that her heart wouldn't be broken again; but what they could promise her that when it was, she wouldn't be alone and they'd always be there to pick up the pieces, no matter how shattered her little heart was. And even though Lucy's world was currently crumbled around her feet, just like they promised, they were here, armed and ready to pick up all the pieces and put it back together again for her – and would wait on the sidelines for the next time that she'd need Mom and Dad.

As Lucy's tears subsided and she reached for the ice cream that Lindsay had brought up, she fell into a mournful silence as she automatically gouged ice cream out of the tub, to her mouth, and then repeated the process. Deciding to leave her for the moment, Danny and Lindsay turned their attention to one another. As their eyes met over their daughter's honey blonde hair, they shared a small smile of pride with one another. When they considered the shaky start that they'd had when beginning this chapter of their life together, they realised that really; they hadn't done too bad in creating quite the life together. They'd met the hardships head on with confidence. They'd embraced the highlights and celebrated them. They didn't take anything for granted and appreciated everything that they'd been blessed with. And while Lucy was currently in the middle of a teenage breakdown, they couldn't help but smile at the knowledge that before the week was up, everything would be right in her world again. Until next time of course... and then they'd start all over again - but never would she be alone in dealing with her troubles.

After all, they were the Messer's, and life had proven that they were a team - no matter how rough the storm was. The three of them could beat any obstacle, big or small, thrown at them.

There we have it - I'm hoping that the Writer's block has been broken. Fingers crossed. Thank you for reading - any thoughts would be, as ever, hugely appreciated.