Because after that article with Carmine, I figured that we all needed a bit of a pick-me-up. Sugah made a video (check it out!) and I devoted a fanfic to the wonderful, yet tumultuous journey of our two wonderful CSIs. Feel special: I put my story 'Falling Up' on hold for a day to complete this! And since I was completely inspired by this wonderful song, I thought a bit of a songfic was in order. Check it out, leave me comments, and enjoy! This isn't beta'd, so all mistakes are my own! (And there will probably be quite a few since my spell check isn't working and I wrote this in about an hour and a half's time!)

Disclaimer: I don't own a lot, so I pride myself in the few things that I do own in this story, such as Adelaide, because I like her. If you take her, I'll send Jack Bauer after you. Everything else is property of CBS. And the song belongs to Lifehouse. It's an amazing song, so you should go and download it.

"First Time"

Adelaide sighed and twirled her coffee stirrer around in the cup and yawned as she stared around the breakroom tiredly. She took a sip and grimaced before sniffing the cup. Well, it smells like coffee…sort of, she thought bitterly. When she looked up from her cup, she noticed Adam standing in the threshold of the door with a smile on his face and two styrofoam cups in his hand. He made his way into the breakroom and beamed. Adelaide raised an eyebrow and stared at the redhead curiously.

"Whatcha got for me, Adam?" she asked with her thick New York accent.

Adam slid the styrofoam cup across the breakroom table. "Real coffee," he remarked with a grin. Adelaide chuckled and tossed her cup into the nearest trashcan before reaching for the signature Starbucks cup. Adam jerked the cup away from her and Adelaide frowned.

"You'll get it, don't worry," he assured the puzzled lab tech. "But you have to promise to tell me what is going on with Danny and Lindsay…the truth," he said, holding up a finger. "I'm too scared to ask Mac if he knows anything, Stella just smiles everytime I ask, and Flack rolls his eyes. So…"

"So, I'm your last resort, Ross?" Adelaide asked.

Adam lifted a shoulder in a lazy shrug. "You tell me what I need to know, and you get your coffee."

Adelaide rolled her eyes and shook her head. Her hazel eyes twinkled and locked with Adam's, but suddenly she gasped.

"Adam," she hissed. "Mac just passed by the breakroom and he looks pissed. I hope you're not supposed to be working…"

Adam whipped his head around and Adelaide took the opportunity to snatch the Starbucks cup and dart out of the room.

Adam's jaw dropped and he threw his hands up in the air. "Oh, come on!"

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

We're both looking for something
We've been afraid to find
It's easier to be broken
It's easier to hide


Lindsay smiled.

She had no reason to smile, really. It had been quite a crappy day. All she wanted was to go home, take a long shower, and curl up on the couch with nothing but a bowl of popcorn and an old black and white movie. She had pulled a muscle chasing a suspect, caught her finger in her office door, and couldn't find her stapler. All in all, it had been the epitome of the day from hell for Lindsay Monroe.

But she was still smiling.

It was because of a CD, as corny as it sounded. She had found this particular CD atop a stack of folders and had only noticed it because of the vibrant red bow that was on it. Lindsay had picked it up curiously and plucked a note out from under the bow. Montana – just thought you might need a little pick-me-up. Play the first track. D.

Lindsay had nodded her head and sat down beside her computer, placing the CD into the disk drive. She didn't recognize the opening chords, but recognized the lead singer's voice.

It was Lifehouse.

Looking at you, holding my breath
For once in my life I'm scared to death
I'm taking a chance letting you inside

Danny rubbed the back of his neck and yawned, but turned the radio up louder in the crime lab's SUV. He grinned and hoped that Lindsay had found the CD. When he had first heard the song, his thoughts immediately went to Lindsay. The song conveyed their relationship perfectly.

He had never been so scared in his life. He had fallen in love. Only a few years prior he had told Mac to not even joke about marriage or love around him. And now…Danny had to laugh. Now, he was sending little gifts to Lindsay, plucking her flowers and writing her sappy little notes. Danny shook his head. He had tried so hard to not fall in love with Lindsay. He had tried to just keep it purely flirtatious, with bantering and arguing here and there. Sure, from the moment that he met her she had intrigued him. He had picked on her and teased her…he was pulling her pigtails, trying to get her riled up.

And what he didn't realize then was that the more he allowed himself to open up to her, the more he was falling in love with her. He hadn't been one to believe in the whole 'love at first sight' crap that the chick flick movies had fed the mass population for generations. In fact, he was somewhat cynical when he came to love.

Well, until he fell for her, that is.

Danny switched lanes and laughed to himself as he did so. She had him wound around her finger. She knew what made him tick. She could smile at him and his knees would go weak (something he would never admit aloud). The fact was that she stirred him like no other woman had before. And it scared him to death that he was falling so hard for her.

But at the same time, he wanted nothing else in the world.

I'm feeling alive all over again
As deep as the sky under my skin
"Like being in love", she said, "for the first time".

Lindsay listened to the chorus and her smile broadened.

When she had turned Danny down, there was a pain inside of her that she couldn't escape. It was a gnawing pain that gripped her and chewed away at her very core. She hadn't wanted to turn him away – yet she feared that if she let him in, he would run the other direction. And the pain surfaced behind her deep brown eyes. She had collapsed on her bed, wracked with sobs. She hadn't wanted to push him away. She hadn't wanted to push everyone away…but she did. And she stared at the blinking answering machine, realizing that there was only one way that she could fix it.

She had to go back to Montana and testify.

Lindsay studied the pile of files that sat in front of her and sighed, removing the one on the top of the stack and reading over it while Lifehouse played on in the background. And leaving for Montana had been one of the hardest things for her to do as well. She could handle saying goodbye to Mac and Stella. And saying goodbye to Hawkes and Flack was a piece of cake, but…saying goodbye to Danny was a whole different matter. She had second-guessed herself only momentarily when Hawkes noticed her card. But she knew that if she tried to say goodbye in person…that she wouldn't be able to. She knew that if she had to face his blue eyes, if she had to face the pain and sorrow that would lie behind his orbs…she would never leave. And she had to leave. She had to face her demons head-on.

And when she was on the stand, the fear returned and gripped her chest, strangling and suffocating her from the inside out. She was reliving the worst event of her life. The flashes of the dead bodies of her friends, the faces of the mothers, the gunshots echoing in her mind…it was too much. She wasn't sure that she could breathe. She felt trapped and stared into the cold eyes of Daniel Katum.

But in that moment, she head a door open. And she looked, and he walked in. And suddenly, the demons didn't seem so overwhelming. The screams of her friends dimmed in her ears, and for the first time, she felt as if she could breathe again. And his support meant the world to her. She had finally felt alive, for the first time in a long time. Her past was no longer in control of her present.

She could finally move on with her life.

Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right
Where I belong with you tonight
Like being in love to feel for the first time

Danny knew that it sounded odd – a city boy and a country girl. It was cliché, probably, that two opposites could attract. But being with Lindsay just felt…right. It was almost as if something had been missing in his life before, like a piece of a puzzle. And he had tried to fit other pieces into the picture, but they just didn't work. But Lindsay…somehow Lindsay fit into his life. And two years ago, the old Danny would have laughed and said "No way" to the idea of being in a long-lasting, committed relationship with a woman. But that was the old Danny. When Lindsay stepped into his life, something changed. He didn't want to be the same person he had been for years – he wanted to constantly improve himself and develop and grow.

That's when he knew that he was in love.

Jennifer Romano was his first love. Danny was seventeen years old when he had fallen for the sweet Italian girl who lived down the street. They had gone to school together, and she was the object of nearly every guy's affection. But she chose Danny, out of all of them. To date, he still wondered why, though he never asked Jennifer himself. Their first dance together had been at his prom, and though he could barely remember what she was wearing (he thought it might have been a red or pink dress), he remembered the dance very clearly – her dark eyes were sparkling and he stared into them. Her lips had just a touch of lipstick on them, and her mouth was curved into a smile. She had her delicate hands wrapped around Danny's neck. She had worn her hair down, dark curls reaching to her shoulders. And at the end of the song, he had brushed his lips over hers, just gently and pulled back. And he would never forget the feeling of his heart anxiously beating, or the way that she stared at him with her dark eyes shining.

And he only remembered his prom and Jennifer Romano because that was the only thing that even came close to how he felt about Lindsay. And even his first love seemed to pale in comparison to how he felt about Lindsay Monroe.

The world that I see inside you
Waiting to come to life
Waking me up to dreaming
Reality in your eyes

Lindsay loved Danny's eyes, for a variety of reasons. She knew that his eyes were the most passionate thing about him. If he was angry, his eyes were dark and stormy, almost like the sea. And when he was excited, nothing shone brighter than his eyes. And Lindsay had only seen him truly scared once – when she went undercover. His eyes, that day, passed through a series of emotions: admiration, worry, fear, relief, and…Lindsay hadn't been able to place the emotion behind his eyes as he held her tightly. She believed it to be love, for when he pulled her away and stared into her eyes, she saw his fear, but behind that, she saw a light – he didn't want to lose her. He was in love with her.

Looking at you, holding my breath
For once in my life I'm scared to death
I'm taking a chance letting you inside

Lindsay had been scared to death to let Danny close to her. And it had all been because of her past. When she saw him in the courtroom and watched him take a seat though, something, some voice inside of her urged her to continue her testimony. You're safe, the voice assured her, He's here. You're safe now. And Lindsay was able to identify Daniel Katums as the murderer. When she completed her testimony, she felt a weight – the weight of guilt, the weight of fear, and the seeming weight of the world – lifted off of her shoulders and tossed into oblivion. And she stared into Danny's eyes. He looked so worn and tired. She didn't ask how long he had been up, or even why he had decided to jump on a plane and fly from New York to Montana, but she felt that she didn't need to ask. She already knew the answer. During the verdit, Lindsay stared at Danny and grabbed his hand. She wanted him to know that she trusted him and was grateful for his presence. He held her hand tightly.

And as the world 'guilty' rang throughout the courtroom, Lindsay sighed in relief. The weight of the world was no longer in her presence, and she allowed her head to find Danny's shoulder. They were both exhausted – he, physically, and she in every other way. But they had gotten through it. They. Lindsay reluctantly removed her head from Danny's shoulder as he stood up and pulled her into a wordless hug. He took her hand and prepared to leave the courtroom with her. But she tugged at his hand, mind reeling from everything that had just taken place. He had been the punching bag for the last few weeks – she had stood him up, and he had offered his support. She had left for Montana, and he had followed her. Wherever she went, he was right beside her. And that is why she tugged at his hand. There was only one way that she could express how much he meant to her. No words could to that justice.

So she pulled him closer and her eyelashes fluttered as their noses touched. But in that moment, she was interrupted by a herd – for lack of a better term – of reporters. She smiled as Danny looked at her and led her out of the courtroom.

I'm feeling alive all over again
As deep as the sky under my skin
"Like being in love", she said, "for the first time".

She meant so much to him.

Danny shook his head and continued his drive in silent thought. She meant more to him than anyone he could remember. And being with her felt different. She had so many sides to her. She was fiesty, yet compassionate and meek. She was passionate and devoted, and energetic and classy. She was…amazing. That was the only way he could describe her.

And when he had awoke next to her a few weeks ago, he knew that there was nowhere in the world that he would rather be than right beside her. And when she stirred and looked up to smile at him, he knew that being with her just felt right. It felt so natural for him to rub her back or kiss her forehead or leave breakfast out for her or write her notes.

His bachelor lifestyle didn't matter to him. His 'player' status, which once made him proud, now made him sick. He didn't want any of that anymore. And if he was turning into a sap, then so be it – all he wanted was Lindsay.

He wanted her to be there when he came home. He wanted to be the first thing she thought of in the morning and the last thing she thought of before going to bed. He wanted to be able to play with her curls as she slept beside him. He wanted to bring her flowers. He wanted to kiss her senseless anytime he wanted to. He wanted to see her smile. He wanted to…

Danny laughed.

He wanted to be her everything.

Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right
Where I belong with you tonight
Like being in love to feel for the first time

Lindsay put her pen down and continued to listen to the song. She knew that the song portrayed her relationship with Danny perfectly – she wanted to be with him, and being with him felt…like nothing she felt before. When he smiled, her knees went weak. And when he laughed, so did she. She couldn't imagine living life without him beside her. He was her comfortor, her friend, her partner, her confidante, her…her…

He was her everything, and she couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have him there.

She was terrified when she found out that it was him inside of the warehouse, and he had convinced her that he was alright and that his injuries looked a lot worse than they were. She had broken down at the hospital and he had comforted her.

"I should be the one helping you, Danny," she insisted. Danny had taken his good hand and wiped the tears from her face.

"If you're here, Montana, you're helpin'."

"But…"

Danny shook his head. "If you were in that building, Linds, you wouldn't be sittin' in a hospital bed right now. They wouldv'e killed you. So, look at me…" Danny tilted Lindsay's head so she was staring directly into his eyes. "…I don't regret what happened today. If I had to do it again, I'd do it the same. I'll be fine in no time, kiddo. You know me," he said with a wink. Lindsay smiled sadly. "All that matters is that you're okay…that we're okay."

Lindsay looked up and leaned over to kiss Danny's nose. "Of course we're okay."

Danny smiled. "Good," he said as Lindsay settled back into the chair beside his hospital bed. She smiled at him and watched as he soon fell asleep. She rose from the chair and kissed Danny's forehead, before placing a gentle kiss on his lips. She stroked his hair and smiled. He'd be alright.

We're crashing
Into the unknown
We're lost in this
But it feels like home

Lindsay sighed, reliving the memories from the hospital. As she walked around her desk to tidy the folders, she heard something fall. Frowning, she knelt down to pick the item up off of the floor. I guess it was on the stack next to the CD, she thought. Still kneeling, she turned the item over in her hand curiously. It was a box. Lindsay furrowed her eyebrows, puzzled. How did I miss this before? she wondered. There was a post-it note attached to the box and she smiled at the familiar handwriting.

This should sum up what words can't. Happy one-month. D.

Lindsay mentally kicked herself. Between her hectic day and pile of paperwork, she had completely forgotten that today marked her and Danny's one-month anniversary. She started to open the box but a voice from the doorway stopped her.

"Lindsay, can you come in here and take a look at something for me real quick?"

Lindsay stood up and brushed off her pants. "Sure, Stel," she said, hitting the pause button on the music player and walking out of her office. I guess the present will have to wait, she thought.

I'm feeling alive all over again
As deep as the sky under my skin

"Like being in love", she said, "for the first time".

Danny smirked as Flack made one of his sarcastic remarks to a suspect. However, he couldn't help but wonder if Lindsay had received her present yet. He had placed it on top of a stack of folders on her desk, hoping that she would see it. He had put the CD right next to the box, figuring that she would need some music to maintain her sanity for the day. And it was odd that she was a constant on his mind. Well, not odd in the sense that he didn't enjoy it – God only knows how much he enjoyed thinking about her constantly.

He just thought it was odd that he was even having such constant thoughts. Or such deep thoughts. He was never a deep thinker. Ah, one of the other things that Lindsay changed about him. He thought a lot now that he was with her. Instead of being impulsive all of the time, he thought about what was best for him, her, and essentially, what was best for them.

"You know, you've really got it bad, Messer," Flack remarked as they walked back to the SUV. "I bet you didn't even hear a word I just said to that chump in there."

Danny smirked. "Flack, man, I never miss those clever little one-liners you deliever."

Flack glared. "A-ha-ha. Very funny, Messer. If you must know, women love a guy that has a good sense of humor."

"That would explain why you haven't gotten a date in months," Danny replied.

He was still smirking as he dodged Flack.

Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right
where I belong with you tonight
Like being in love to feel for the first time

Lindsay finally made her way back to the office and smiled as she saw Danny standing there.

"Hey," she said. Danny grinned.

"Hey yourself," he replied, placing a kiss on the top of her head as she hugged him. She looked up and into his eyes.

"I feel so bad," she admitted.

"Why?" he asked, puzzled.

Lindsay sighed. "I forgot that today was our one-month. Women are supposed to remember these things. I didn't get you anything."

Danny shrugged. "It's alright. I don't need anythin', but…" he trailed off and smirked.

Lindsay raised her eyebrows. "Do I even want to know what you're thinking?"

"Well," Danny said, licking his lips, "I'm sure we could find something to do tonight. That'd be a pretty good anniversary present."

Lindsay smacked Danny's chest and they both laughed. "Daniel Messer," she said between laughs, "do you ever think of anything besides sex?"

"I think of you," he said seriously.

Lindsay's heart melted and she brought her lips up to his. "That's the sweetest thing I have ever heard, however…it's not getting you off the hook entirely," she added with a laugh. Danny rolled his eyes and noticed the unopened box.

"You didn't open it yet?"

Lindsay looked at the box and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "No…Stella wanted me to help her with something and then Adam had a fiber he wanted me to look at and then I stopped to talk to Adelaide…"

Danny held out the box. "Open it."

Lindsay stared at him and smiled, lifting the lid. When she peered inside, she gasped. "Danny…" she started, removing the jewelry from the box and holding it in front of her, "…these are your dog tags."

The corners of Danny's mouth turned into a smile. "Yeah."

Lindsay's eyes were wide. "But…but you never take them off. They're important to you."

Danny interjected. "But you're important to me. Lindsay…I love you. And I want you to wear these because they mean a lot to me. Everything that is important in my life, I want to share it with you."

Lindsay's eyes misted and she nodded. "I love you, Danny."

Danny's face lit up. "That sounds…"

"…right, somehow?" Lindsay finished.

Danny licked his lips and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, it does. Here, turn around," he instructed, taking the tags from Lindsay. She turned around and lifted her hair up so that Danny could fasten the dog tags around her neck. She heard them clink and smiled when he said: "Finished."

Lindsay turned around, finding herself mere inches from Danny's face. She beamed and popped the CD out of her disk drive, placing it securely back in its case. She picked up her purse and jacket and tugged at Danny's hand. As the two exited their office, Danny could hear the faint jingling of his dogs tags around Lindsay's neck.

And he smiled.

"Like being in love", she said, "for the first time".
Like being in love to feel for the first time