So tonight was my first new years in NYC...And let me tell you, Montana can't hold a candle in this area. :) So the rule is that everyone who gets invited to a party must share the info about the party with the rest of the team and then the team decides what party to go to... this year was Stella's year. Needless to say the party was amazing, it was in one of the time square buildings right next to the ball, on the top floor. There was everything imaginable to make it a great time, dancing, an open bar, cute guys working, and attending, I was looking to have some fun...and to figure out where I stood with danny.

Another year had come and gone and I still didn't know where exactly we stood. The two of us were friends, that wasn't even a question, but that line between friends and more was always being tried between us, like tonight, when he picked me up and brought me flowers, and then couldn't talk when he stopped to look at what I was wearing, or the time I showed up at his house at 1 am soaked and sobbing, after a bad case, and he invited me in, and ended up holding me, stroking my hair until I fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning, I found myself in his clean, dry clothing, laying in his huge bed, right in the middle, with his arms around me. Or the time that we went out to unwind after work one night and ended up dancing at a bar. By the end of the night, the rest of the team had gone home and it was just us, lost on the dance floor, grinding and moving to the music. Somewhere in that timeframe, I was sliding up and down Danny as if he was a pole, and i'm sure I felt a boner...that one is more a physical reaction, I know, but still it means something. Then, the next day at work, when me and Danny were zombies, the entire team was teasing us, and Danny, who never lets anything bother him, was actually blushing...

Anyways, so yeah, i'm getting mixed signals...and with all the cute guys around, I knew I could figure out how Danny felt. I was dressed to kill... my hair in loose curls, half up half down, with a few strands framing my face, light make up, and a black dress that was cut down to there, in an extremely revealing, extremely deep v-neck, it had a fitted waist that accentuated my curves and from the reactions of all the guys around, I think it was a hit. So my trap was set, I looked HOTT, and I was at a great party, and I was going to get Danny to admit something.

Nothing really happened until right around 11:30. Stella pulled me aside, and asked me what the hell I was doing... "Umm...I'm having fun at a party stella, what do you mean what am I doing?" I answered, as if nothing was different.

"no linds, your ignoring Danny and blatantly flirting with other guys...He's noticed...We all have...you should tone it down a little bit...i happen to know that he was planning on kissing you at midnight..." she tells me... my heart starts racing, he was going to kiss me? That could NOT be good...Knowing Danny there were way too many reasons he could pull something like that...it could be a joke, an easy way to show he cares that leaves an easy out if I reject him...it could have been one of a million different things.

After my talk with Stella, I went to find Danny sitting at the bar, looking rather amazing, with a load of girls googling at him. "howdy stranger" I tease.

"oh, hey Linds, how is your night been?" he asks.

"good enough I guess, its been fun...there are guys everywhere, and apparently I have a "talk to me" sign on my forehead." I chuckle, and then decide to lay the bait, "but I haven't met anyone worthy of a midnight kiss yet,"

he looks at me, smiling, as if I just made his night, "yeah, me either...these girls are all so..." he trails off, but I swear I can almost make out something that sounds like "so not you..."

At about 11:45, we head to the dance floor, his idea of course, after like 10 minutes of dancing, I decide that if anything is going to happen, and I mean really happen, not just a chaste midnight kiss, I need to get the two of us alone...

"Danny, Can we go up to the roof? I want to see the ball drop from up there, the view must be amazing." I ask.

"Do you have any idea how cold it is up there?" he asks, always being the practical one...

"yeah, I don't care, come on, please I don't wanna go up alone..." I beg. He agrees and we grab our coats and run up the stairs...by the time we get to the top there is only about a minute left before midnight. "Its crazy to think that it is already going to be 2008, I mean it seems like I just left home and came out here, then I stop and think about all the people that have become part of my life and I wonder how I made it back home without you." I tell him.

He smiles, and says "Linds, look, the ball..." "...3...2...1...HAPPY NEW YEAR" we hear from the street below. I'm caught in the moment, leaning on the wall of the roof, with Danny behind me, arms wrapped around my waist, looking down at the sight below me "it is amazing really, almost 5 million people squeezed into one little spot, celebrating a new start, a fresh chance to do what they want, to live how they want" I tell him. I feel him shift, and turn around, wondering what he is doing, before I can react, I feel his lips crash onto mine. The kiss starts out passionately, both of us giving in to the desires that we've been denying since we first met. When we need air, we separate, and I lay my head on his shoulder, close my eyes and enjoy the moment.

"Lindsey, I want a fresh start." Danny whispers in my ear, nibbleing on my ear lobe.

I lift my head up, and bring my hand to the nape of his neck, running my fingers through the curls "Me too Dan, me too..." I whisper, leaning in to kiss him again.

This time the kiss is less heated and more of a promise than a release... "danny, we should probably get back downstairs, you know how the rumor mill runs wild." I tell him. And with that we went back to join the party, both of us knowing this year would be a lot different than years past. This year we had each other, and that was enough to make a difference.