Yeah, I finally got the second part up!! Hooray! I'm SO sorry it took this long to get this up here! First, I wasn't sure what to write. Then my stupid laptop broke down and it took a couple weeks to fix. Then I had a bad case of writer's block. sigh But here it is at last! This one is quite a bit longer, but I couldn't keep it short. Hope you like it! Oh, and reviews make my day! Gimme, gimme, gimme!

Important Note: This is a sequel to "Ice Rinks and Marshmallows". A couple things in this fic will not make sense if you haven't read the first one, but it's not that important. The first one is a lot shorter. Thanks for reading!

Danny was at the ice rink again. It had been three days since Lindsay slaughtered him in that damned race and after work every night since he'd headed straight here, hoping she'd show up again. He wasn't sure what he was hoping for; a chance at a rematch, or just to see her skating again, but so far he hadn't seen her.

Danny slipped through the door, not wanting to be seen yet by Lindsay if she was there. He stood in the shadows and scanned the building for Lindsay's familiar form. It didn't take long, as the rink held few patrons at this late hour, and a second later he saw her, out on the ice.

He watched her, debating if he wanted to join her on the ice or settle in an obscure corner and continue as he was. I hardly saw her all day. I'm not gonna sit back an' observe. He decided, and headed for the skate rental booth.

A minute later he sat on a bench to put on the skates he was given, and quickly switched footwear. He rose and stumped to the edge of the ice, but stopped in surprise when he looked up. As he watched, Lindsay leapt into the air, turned two times and landed cleanly, without a wobble.

She straightened and a second later Danny knew she'd seen him. She skated toward him and slid to stop, scowling fiercely.

"If you tell a soul what you just saw, Daniel Messer, I'll rip your arm off and beat you to death with it!"

"Whoa, easy there, Montana." Danny held up his hands in a surrendering gesture. "I can keep a secret. Why so touchy about it?"

"I don't like anyone to know."

"Why?" Danny asked, hoping she wouldn't shut down on him again.

"I—never mind, it's a boring story. You wouldn't care." she started to skate away from him, but he caught her arm before she could escape and pulled her back to him.

"Hey," he said gently, settling his hands on her shoulders, "I think I'll be the judge of what I care about. And I'm still here, aren't I? You can tell me."

Lindsay hesitated, looking at him, then sighed. "Okay. My mom was a figure skater. I was the only one of my siblings that was interested in it, so she spent a lot of time teaching me. But my dad wanted me to be a speed skater, so he taught me that. Mom died when I was 15, and I stopped skating altogether. I couldn't bear to do it without her, and I didn't want to...dishonor her by speed skating. So I chose to be a CSI, that way my dad didn't feel entirely jilted, and I didn't feel like I was letting Mom down. Well, that's two of the reasons, anyway. Eventually I was able to start skating again, sometimes speed," here she smiled at him, and he smirked back, knowing she was thinking of their race, "but mostly I figure skate. I guess it's my way of remembering her. And, I don't know, somehow it makes me feel closer to her."

Lindsay sniffed back a few tears, and gave a shaky laugh. "There, now you know the short-and-boring history of Lindsay Monroe's skating years."

"I'm glad you told me." Danny said, "And it wasn't boring."

"You know, it feels good to tell someone. Thanks, Danny, you're a good friend."

"Anytime." he replied, thinking he was just relieved she hadn't pushed him away again. "Hey, were you gonna get goin' soon, or stay?"

"Well, I've only been here for," she pulled back the sleeve of her jacket and checked her watch. "about thirty minutes. I'm going to hang out here for a while."

"Cool, me too. What do ya say you show me more of your moves?"

Lindsay rolled her eyes. "Whatever you want, Messer, just remember my warning. Don't think I won't keep my word."

"No worries, Montana, my lips are sealed. Hey, can you do any more jumps?"

Lindsay grinned. "Do cows moo?" (A/N: wink)

Nearly an hour had passed and the two CSIs were still at the rink. They'd been more or less skating the whole time, and Lindsay was trying to teach Danny how to execute a camel spin. A camel spin is simply spinning on one foot with the other leg extended behind the skater, parallel to the ice, while the upper body leans forward. So far he'd only managed to look like a dog lifting it's leg.

"Danny, to look like you're even trying to do a camel spin, you have to raise your leg higher than that!"

Danny leaned forward, struggling to raise his leg, but leaned too far and sprawled on the ice. Lindsay burst out laughing, doubled over as tears leaked from her eyes. Danny rolled over and stood up, wiping his damp palms on his jeans, and started toward her.

"Ya think that's funny, do ya?" he asked, then grabbed her waist and began tickling her. She squealed and tried to back away.

"Danny! Danny, stop!" she gasped through her laughter, writhing as she tried to get away.

"Say uncle." he grinned.

"No!"

Danny dug his fingers a little harder into her ribs, making her shriek, and finally she knocked his hands away and punched him in the nose. It wasn't a hard blow, but it started bleeding, and Danny pinched his nose as he looked at Lindsay in surprise. She covered her mouth and nose with both hands, her eyes wide with horror.

"Danny, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard! Here, I have a handkerchief." Lindsay whipped a red checkered cloth and handed it to Danny. Then Lindsay carefully guided Danny off the ice and sat him down on a bench.

"Damn, Lindsay, you have a hard fist!" Danny's words were slightly muffled, due to the cloth hanging in front of his mouth.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hit you."

"Quit apologizin', it was my own fault. I swear I'll never tickle you again."

"Well, I may have overreacted a little. Are you okay?"

"I'm short a little blood, an' I'll prob'ly have a bruise, but it won't leave a scar." he smiled, though Lindsay could only see his eyes, "I'll make it.

Lindsay just sighed in relief and leaned over to began untying her skates. Danny followed suit, working at the laces with his free hand. Lindsay untied Danny's other skate for him and tugged them both off, then walked away in her socks, carrying his skates.

She returned a moment later with their shoes and her purse and a blue backpack. She set his in front of him, and he pushed feet inside, but left the laces loose. Lindsay shoved her white skates into the backpack along with her purse and zipped it up.

Danny was confused and looked at her. "Ya didn't rent those?"

Lindsay grinned. "Figure skater, Danny. We don't rent skates. We have them custom made."

Danny shook his head slightly, surprised again. "Shoulda guessed."

Lindsay pulled on her sneakers and leaned against Danny with a sigh, resting her head on his shoulder. A few minutes later Danny removed the handkerchief and announced the bleeding had stopped.

"Good," Lindsay said after a yawn, as Danny tied his shoes. "Now I won't feel bad leaving you for my bed."

Danny straightened up and opened his mouth to make a joke about Lindsay and her bed, but the stiff glare she gave him screamed 'don't you dare'. And for the first time, he didn't. Instead he looked at his watch as he started to fold up the handkerchief.

"Yeah, it's getting late. C'mon, I'll take you home." he stood up and pushed the hanky into his pocket.

"No, it's okay, I'll be fine." Lindsay declined.

"I wasn't askin', Montana. I'm takin' you home and that's that."

He grasped her hand and hauled her to her feet, then took her backpack from her other hand and slung it over his shoulder. He smiled a moment later, pleased, when he realized she hadn't protested against the action, and wasn't going to. They walked to the street where Danny waved down a cab and held the door for Lindsay, sliding in next to her.

"Where to, folks?" the cabbie asked.

Lindsay opened her mouth to tell him, but Danny saw and beat her to it, making sure she didn't try to get him home first.

The two CSIs filled the car with their words and laughter as they headed for their destination. They were ten minutes away when the cabbie jumped into the lull in the conversation with a question that left them both speechless.

"How long you two been together?"

They blinked, surprised, and looked at the cabbie and then each other.

Danny was the first to find his voice. "We aren't, actually."

"Really?" It was the cabby's turn to be taken aback. "That's hard t' believe. You act like an old married couple, to tell you the truth. You're like me an' my wife, see. We've been married 23 years, and you two interact an' talk like we do. If you'll excuse me bein' nosy, why aren't you?"

Danny knew what he wanted to say, but was afraid to say it. He did anyway. "Ya know, I'm not really sure. For my part, it's certainly ain't for not wantin' to be."

He heard Lindsay beside him draw in a quick breath and hoped she wouldn't kill him later for what he was about to do.

"Honestly? I'm crazy about her. She's smart and funny, compassionate and sweet. She won't take crap from anyone, an' can counter everything I tease her about with somethin' better. Montana's everything I've always wanted, everything I'm looking for. She's so damn beautiful, an' I'll never deserve her. I know she's going through something horrible an' I'd give anything to take that pain away from her. I don't think she trusts me yet, with her heart, or her fears an' secrets, or even what's made her so broken right now. She thinks she has to be alone to deal with it an' get over it, but she doesn't know how wrong she is. I want to be there for her, to hold her when she's scared, wipe away her tears when she cries, protect her when she's threatened. I want to see her smile again, preferably at me. She's not ready for me, but when she is, I'll still be right here, by her side, where I always have been."

Danny finished speaking just as they pulled to a stop near Lindsay's apartment. He had technically been talking to the cabbie, but he hadn't taken his eyes off her the whole time. Her head was down now, staring at her tightly-clenched hands in her lap, her loose hair hiding her face.

Danny's heart was pounding, afraid of how she would react, that she would completely reject him this time. He wasn't sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way he had fallen in love with her, and he wouldn't take the words back for anything.

Danny pulled out his wallet and paid the cabbie, who hadn't said a word since his last question. Now he turned in the seat and looked at them. Danny was surprised, and amused, to see the man had a couple tears sliding down his cheeks. He sniffed.

"Now you listen here, young lady." he said, almost sternly. "That's the best thing I have ever heard a man say to a woman. It's crystal clear he loves you very much, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he died for you. Obviously I have no idea what's going on with you two, what may have happened between you, or what you're going through, but I can tell that he'll always be there for you, no matter what. Give him a chance. Thank you and have a good night."

With that the man turned back around and began tapping his hand on the steering wheel impatiently like nothing had happened. Danny opened his door and got out, carrying Lindsay's backpack again. He circled around to her side and opened the door for her before she could do it herself.

She climbed out and on the sidewalk but wouldn't look at him. Danny shut the door and started to move to the cabby's window to tell him to wait, but the car suddenly pulled away from the curb. He turned back to Lindsay.

"I was goin' to ask him to wait for me, but apparently he didn't want to."

"Why did you have to do that, Daniel Messer?!" Lindsay suddenly shouted.

He had expected her to angry with him, but he hadn't thought she would yell. "I'm sorry I said all that in front of the cabbie, Lindsay, but I cou—"

"Not that! And don't you dare start calling me Lindsay now, just because I'm pissed at you! I love it when you call me Montana! Damn it!"

Lindsay flung her arms out in frustration and turned away, heading down the street toward her apartment in long fast strides. Danny quickly followed after her, shocked at the turn of events, at the tears streaming down her face. Of all the things she could say...

"Then why are you mad at me?" he asked, keeping her pace beside her.

"Because! Everything was fine until you asked me out! We were friends, Danny, and you had to go and ruin it! Why couldn't you just leave things as they were?"

"I wasn't satisfied with how things were! We were friends, yes, but you wouldn't even have lunch with me! Friends do things with their friends, Lindsay, why couldn't you just do that?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to push you away again? Do you know how hard it is to resist you? Look at you! Look at who you are! I mean, you're practically perfect! The only thing I could do was keep you at a distance!"

"So it's my fault I am who I am? I can't control what I look like! I hate the way girls throw themselves at me! You're the first woman I have ever met that doesn't trip over herse—"

Lindsay threw up her hands giving a frustrated growl, then grabbed his up-turned lapels, pulled his head down and kissed him.

Danny was shocked for half a second, then he buried his hands in her hair and kissed her back hungrily. She looped her arms around his neck and held him tightly, needing to be close to him. Finally she pulled away and they both gasped the much-needed air.

"Damn, Montana!" was all Danny could say.

She sighed and rested her forehead against his neck. "I love it when you call me that."

"So I've heard."

Lindsay lifted her head and looked at him. "You're right, Danny, and the cabbie was right. I know you love me, and I love you. I don't want to be alone anymore. I can't do this alone. I do trust you. I want to be able to tell you my fears and secrets and what's going on with me. I want you to help me deal with it and get over it. I want you to be here for me, to hold me when I'm scared, to wipe away my tears when I cry, to protect me when I'm threatened. I want to have a reason to smile again, especially at you. I want you to be here by my side."

Danny sniffed away a few tears, ignoring the few that escaped from his eyes, and smiled. "I'm still here, aren't I?" he said for the second time that night. "You never have to be alone again. I'm not leaving you."

"Good." Lindsay gave him a brilliant smile and pulled him down for another kiss.

A few moments later, Danny pulled back. "Hey Montana?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry I got blood on your hanky."

So there it is! Show a-hands, who needs a toothbrush now? Fluffiness is my friend! Please reivew! Thanks, and have a great day!

skilletswhispers06