Parting Should Be Painless
DL Set after S3 'The Lying Game' Danny couldn't let her go without paying her a visit.
Disclaimer: I have custody of my Muse and the plot but I humbly acknowledge that I have no jurisdiction over the characters themselves.
A/N:- There's probably a huge number of post-eps written for this episode already but here's another which I hope is worthy of a read.
I wrote this in bed in one-sitting which is rather unusual for me. Hope my lack of sleep pays off!
NB:- Now fully awake I read it through again and noticed some horrific grammatical mistakes that made me cringe so I corrected them and uploaded a better version.
'Parting Should Be Painless' – Roger Daltrey
Danny Messer wasn't sure of a lot of things in life but he was pretty sure Lindsay Monroe didn't want to open her door to find him standing there - after all if she'd wanted to speak with him then he would've gotten, at the very least, a phone call instead of a card.
From the way he had watched Stella hug her, he knew that something was up and then when Mac had drawn her into an embrace as well ……. Well, Mac only initiated physical contact when comfort needed to be given in vitally important situations.
He wasn't going to lie and say that it didn't hurt him that she was deliberately keeping him out of the loop, especially when she knew how much he cared about her. Maybe if he cared a little bit less he would be able to let the matter go and he wouldn't be here now, quite possibly about to make things harder for her.
He heard the chain being drawn back and then the door opened and she stood there all surprised and awkward.
"Danny! What are you doing here?" she asked, anxiety evident in her voice.
"Can I come in?" Danny asked with a smile, taking his hands out of his pockets and rubbing them together. He was going to play this cool and not let the whole hurt, defensive 'why didn't you trust me?' act come out. Just looking at her now he could see she didn't need anymore stress. Suddenly it occurred to him that that was why she hadn't told him about her departure in person. Of course! Lindsay knew him …. His first reaction would've been to ask why she hadn't confided in him. Well, he wasn't going to be that person tonight….. He was just going to be Danny Messer – cool, breezy and charming just like he always had been until a piece of Montana walked into his life one year, six months ago.
"Erm, I was just packing ……. But okay." Lindsay said, opening the door wider as her lying reflexes failed miserably in trying to provide an excuse.
Danny pulled his shoes off before stepping in and he noticed her look at him in slight surprise, slight appreciation that he had remembered even from all that time ago.
"You've got a nice place here." He said, walking around the living room. And it was a nice place – exactly how he'd imagined her place to look like, and he'd be lying if he said he'd never imagined it. There was wood pretty much everywhere – dining chairs, coffee table, dresser, skirting boards and shelves that covered pretty much most of all the wall space which made it enclosed and cosy. He picked up a photo from the mantelpiece and glanced at it: it was Lindsay in high school with four friends at what must have been their Prom. She looked cute.
"What are you doing here Danny?" She asked, an edge to her voice as she shifted from foot to foot.
"I got your card." Danny said. "You're going home." He stated.
"Yes, for awhile." She conceded. And that was it, she was giving away nothing more.
"You know, I feel a bit short-changed-" He started.
"Danny…." She pleaded, looking at him, willing him to stop.
He looked at her and with the pained look she was giving him, he knew he couldn't ask her to tell him whatever it was she didn't want to talk about. He changed direction and raised his shoulders in an open shrug. "I mean Stella got a hug, Mac got a hug ….. what about me?" He said in an exaggerated gesture of mock-hurt.
Lindsay stared at him for the longest time before giving him a small smile which Danny saw was just a weak way of trying to cover up something else. She walked towards him and let him wrap his arms around her.
Feeling her pressed up against him, he sighed contentedly, smelling her hair, not knowing when he would get to be like this with Lindsay again. Just as he loosened his grip leaving her free to return to her safe distance, he heard her whimper and then shudder as she clung to him harder.
"Hey….. it's okay." He said softly, rubbing her back. She was crying. In his arms. She was obviously not going back to Montana for a holiday.
He closed his eyes and held her, muttering small words of comfort until she pulled away, rubbing her eyes furiously.
"I'm sorry." She choked.
"No, it's okay. It's okay." Danny said, holding her chin up whilst he wiped her eyes with a tissue gently. They held eye contact for a long time until Lindsay had managed to regain control of herself for the most part. "Is it a sick family member?" Danny guessed.
Lindsay shook her head before sitting down on her sofa and looking up at Danny which he took as an invite to join her. She took a few deep breaths as if she was still tossing up whether to tell him or not. "Lindsay, you don't need to tell me anything you don't want to." He said quietly. "I'll be here for you anyway."
Lindsay looked away and then back at him. "I need to testify in a case back in Bozeman." She started. "In a trial of a man who's suspected of killing four of my friends ten years ago. I'm the only witness. I'm the only one there ….. who survived."
Danny felt like someone had just hit him over the head with a hammer. Shock engulfed his body, so many answers for everything that had happened over the past few months came rushing at him at once. He didn't know what to say to her but apparently she didn't need him to say anything. He took her hand in his and with his free arm, he pushed her towards him. She rested her head on his shoulder for a few minutes before she pulled away to look at him again.
"I know you've waited a long time for explanations and I wanted to give them to you but …." She hesitated. "You're the first guy that I've allowed myself to have feelings for in a long time and I didn't want to project my problems onto you and-"
"Shh." Danny said, pressing his finger lightly against her lips. "I know what you're going to have to do in the next few weeks is going to be incredibly hard and you're so brave and strong Lindsay, I know you're going to make it. But I'm going to call you every night and probably several times during the day as well and I want you to promise to call me any time you need me, okay?" She looked at him, like she didn't really understand his words. "And if you need me to be there with you beside you every step of the way then I'll use my vacation days and fly out there to be with you." Danny was surprised at how the words came out. He didn't even have to think it through for a minute - if Lindsay needed him, he was going to be there. No matter what. "Okay?" He repeated.
She looked overwhelmed and her eyes were all watery. She didn't know how to express what she was feeling in words. "Thank you." She said softly, hugging him again.
"Why don't you go finish packing whilst I order some pizza and put on a movie and we can just hang out for the rest of tonight and forget about tomorrow eh?" Danny asked, smoothing her hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear delicately.
She nodded but didn't move for awhile. She just stared at him like he had taken her to the top of the Empire State Building and declared his love for her with fireworks in the sky. And then she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his.
As first kisses went, this was pretty amazing. Finally when the need for oxygen forced them apart, Danny rested his forehead against hers and took her hands in his. "We're going to get through this Montana. Together."
And she trusted him.
A/N:- As always, feedback is ambrosia for my Muse!