A/N: I was a Nick/Lindsay shipper when I first watched F&G, but the more I go back over the episodes, the more I want to lean in a Daniel/Lindsay direction, hence this fic. I don't write much in this fandom so hopefully no-one is majorly OOC and also I hope somebody actually does read/review the story! :-)

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Paul Feig, Judd Apatow, and all the other makers of Freaks and Geeks - none of which are me!

Part 1 of 3

For the first time in a long time, Lindsay felt better about life. A day or two in her old life had proven it wasn't for her, even less so than the new life she'd tried to start. Now she felt she had a handle on some middle ground, and it felt good, as she walked out of her old friend, Milly Kenter's house into the dark of night, considering if she dare skip going home and instead head for the nearest possible place her new friends might be at.

Hanging out with them, it was almost always fun. Sure, she got labelled a burnout and a freak for spending time with them, but living outside the box for a while was kinda cool actually. The danger aspect was both the lure and the problem with her new life. That car crash the other day had really freaked her out, to the point where she'd questioned what she was doing with her life, spending all her time with Daniel, Nick, Ken, and Kim. Besides, this whole thing had only started because she'd developed such a crush on...

"Daniel?" she was stunned to the core to find him lying on the hood of his car just down the street from her house, one arm under his head, the other dangling off the side with a lit cigarette between his fingers.

"Hey, Lindz" he smiled in that lop-sided kind of way that he did sometimes, that never failed to make her insides turn over - it was the nicest feeling.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, as she glanced between her own house across the street and Milly's place that she'd just come out of, "Where are the guys?"

"I dunno" he shrugged as he pulled himself up, bending his knees into his chest as she walked over, "I was just, y'know, driving around" he said, flicking his now spent cigarette into the road.

"That's cool" Lindsay nodded, not sure what else she was supposed to say.

Without a word, Daniel moved over, making room for her to pull herself up to sit beside him on the car hood. Tossing her bag and coat into the front seat, she did just that, and the pair sat in odd silence a while.

"So, how's life back in the geek lane?" he asked her with a smirk that proved he meant no real harm with his comment that could easily have been insulting if taken the wrong way.

"It doesn't really work for me anymore" Lindsay sighed, "Y'know I really thought I could go back and just... I thought I'd be happy"

"You looked happy" he said as he looked across at her, "At that Mathlete thing, when you were kicking butt"

"Oh, well, it's always nice to win" she smiled as she thought about it, "and y'know you guys all showing up to support me that was, that was really cool of you, Daniel. I know you were probably bored..."

"Nah, not totally bored" he told her, not even needing to lie about it if he were honest, "It was actually pretty cool seein' you do what you do" he said, not even looking at her as he wiped some possibly imaginary dirt from his shoe, "I know we rag on you for bein' smart and all but... truth is, we... I'm just jealous, Lindsay"

"Yeah, right" she rolled her eyes at that, clearly not believing him, "Like you need to be smart, Daniel. I mean, look at you" she said, as she did just that and he stare right back now wondering what came next, "You... you have friends and people respect you for being who you are"

"Yeah, and who am I, Lindsay?" he asked her with a shake of his head, "You know what people think of Daniel Desario? They think he'd be a total loser if he wasn't getting laid" he told her bitterly, recalling an earlier conversation with Harris, "and since me and Kim are over, I guess that just leaves me with the loser title" he said, hopping down off the car and turning away from the one girl he'd actually come to talk to tonight.

It hadn't necessarily been a conscious decision, but somehow whilst he was driving around town he just kept ending up back here on her street. When it happened a fourth time, he gave up, got out of the car and laid out on the hood, staring up at the stars and hoping something might just hit him, an idea or some kind of inspiration. Hell, on some stupid level, he'd actually been wishing Lindsay would notice him out there and come over, considering it almost like a miracle when it had actually happened.

Now she was here, trying to talk to him like he was a person, that way she did that made him think he actually mattered, even when the rest of the world was telling him he didn't. It was more than he could stand right now, and all that he wanted to hear at the same time.

"You and Kim broke up?" she asked as she scooted across the car hood to get closer to him, "Daniel, I'm sorry" she said, reaching a hand out to his shoulder just at the moment he turned around, consequently hitting him across the face by accident.

"Ow" was his obvious reaction.

The expression on his face then, mixed with her feeling so stupid for what she'd done, left Lindsay with no sensible reaction, and instead just a burst of giggly laughter that came from somewhere deep inside her and erupted into the cool night air.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry" she gasped, laughing hard and feeling so stupid, as she lost the ability to sit up and laid down on the hood once again with a thud.

"Yeah, well, at least when you're laughing you're not ripping my head off and calling me an idiot" he reminded her, as he rounded the front of the car and pulled himself up to lay down beside her.

"I guess I was a little out of line" she sighed as they both stared up at the night sky, talking just about as seriously right now as they ever had in their lives.

"Honestly, Lindz" he said then, eyes focused solely on the stars, "When you got mad at us, not only were you totally right about everything but... y'know I never wanted a woman more" he told the sky more than he told Lindsay.

"Shut up" she said immediately, smacking him across he chest without ever even glancing his way, feeling embarrassed and stupid at the same time as warm and fuzzy inside at the comment she really hadn't expected at all.

"I'm serious" he said, turning his head to actually look at her then, "Girls I know, like Kim, they scream and yell and they think they know everything. Gets old" he shrugged, "but you actually know what you're talkin' about, and you don't care about your reputation or anything, you just... you're you, Lindsay, and that's way cooler than any of us can ever be" he told her honestly, that she could tell as she slowly turned to look at him then and saw the sincerity in those eyes she could drown in.

Daniel Desario being genuine and serious and actually sweet to her. Wonders would never cease, Lindsay thought as she reminded herself to breathe and tried to figure out what she was supposed to say next. When nothing came to mind and his intense gaze started to burn somehow, she pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the car hood, running a shaky hand through her hair.

"Daniel..." she said, feeling stupidly nervous as he sat up beside her, so close she could feel the heat of his body next to hers.

"I know" he said, running a hand down the edge of her face, pushing stray hair behind her ear and making her shiver in the best way, "You gotta go, gotta run home and be a good girl for a while" he told her with a wry smile, "I get it, Lindz" he assured her, "but you ever wanna come back on my side of the tracks, you let me know" he told her with a look that was unmistakable to even inexperienced little Lindsay Weir.

As Daniel moved to get off the car, her hand against his chest stopped him, pushing him back down beside her. Honest to God, Lindsay would never be able to explain what happened next for as long as she lived, but somehow she was suddenly leaning in close and kissing a somewhat startled Daniel Desario right on the lips.

Perhaps it was a reaction to the weirdness of the last few days, switching from freak to geek, and not so sure she properly fitted either side of the divide anymore. Maybe revisiting her good old life and had given her a yearning to be even more bad than she'd ever been before. Daniel's sweet words to her should've been incentive enough, but in truth it was probably a mixture of all these things, and one more that was perhaps the most important. From day one, Lindsay had been waiting to have the confidence to make this moment happen, and from the way he was holding onto her now, kissing her back with a passion Lindsay barely knew existed in the world til now, Daniel had been waiting just as long for her. Now was their moment, and neither of them planned on wasting any more time.

To Be Continued...