Danny fidgeted as he stood outside her door, silently arguing with himself. There was nothing he wanted more than to see her, to hold her. But he knew that he had hurt her – Flack had told him as much after the ordeal with Reuben's mom. If he was completely honest with himself, Danny was scared to death that she wouldn't even let him in.

Finally, he took a deep breath and knocked. It felt like an eternity that he was standing there, his heart pounding. His hands started to shake when he heard footsteps inside, and he shoved them into his pockets just as the door opened.

"Hey," he said quickly, his anxiety obvious.

Lindsay looked at him for a long moment. Danny could tell she was weighing her options in her head, deciding whether or not she really wanted to deal with him.

"Hey," she finally said.

"Hey," he repeated, inwardly wincing at how stupid he sounded. They both stood there, not knowing what to say until Danny awkwardly cleared his throat. "Can I come in?" he asked.

She stepped to the side without a word, closing the door once he had walked past her. Crossing her arms, she moved to stand in front of him, her eyes glued to the floor.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "For every –"

"You don't owe me anything, Danny," she interrupted, still refusing to meet his gaze. "I guess…I guess you were just done with me."

Danny looked at her sharply, stung by her words. "Done? I don't ever want to be done with you, Montana."

She kept talking as though she hadn't heard him. "I mean…you pursued me, Danny. And if you wanted to end it, that's fine, but…you could've at least let me know. Instead of me sitting here and wondering if we're together or not, or if I should come check on you, or…or if you just wanted me to leave you alone."

When she finally stopped talking, Danny stared at her in disbelief. He knew that he had hurt her, but seeing the tears slide down her cheeks made him realize that he had screwed up much more than he had thought.

"I thought you knew how I felt," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I love you, Montana."

Lindsay's eyes widened in surprise as she finally looked up at him. Her bottom lip quivered as more tears fell down her face.

"But…you disappeared! You refused to talk to me. Every time I even came near you, you would find an excuse to leave –"

Danny took a step closer to her. "I never meant…I was afraid, Montana. I love you so much. But I thought, if you saw what a mess I was, you would leave."

She stared at him like he was an idiot. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a mess, too. We all are, Danny. We find someone whose mess goes with ours."

Slowly, he closed the distance between them, reaching out to take her face in his hands. When she didn't resist, he rested his forehead against hers.

"And now?" he asked. "Do our messes still go together?"

"I want them to," she whispered.

The pain in her voice breaking his heart, Danny leaned in and kissed her gently. Lindsay clung to him, bringing her body closer to his as she tilted his head to deepen the kiss. He brushed her tears away with his thumbs, reveling in how good her skin felt against his. Eventually, they pulled back, Danny placing a soft kiss on her forehead before wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly.

"I love you," he said again.

"I love you too," she replied, her voice muffled against his chest. She lifted her head, her eyes searching his. "But you have to talk to me, Danny. You have to let me in."

"I promise." Swallowing hard, he tucked her hair behind her ears. "I want to stay," he said, his voice shaking.

Lindsay nodded, taking his hand in hers and kissing the knuckles softly. Then she turned and moved down the hallway, pulling him with her.