Disclaimer:i dont own any of the CSI:NY characters. if i did, aid wouldnt be gone.
Danny sat quietly in the break room, sipping a Diet Coke. He used to hate Diet Coke with a passion, but because she loved them, they were in the fridge. But she was gone, so he drank them.
The rookie pranced into the room, excited about one thing or another. She always was happy about something or another. Could she just calm down for a couple of seconds? He thought she was being too obnoxious, but he decided to be nice to her, more for his own sake than hers. "Hey Montana, whatcha so excited about?"
Lindsay giggled, launching in to some explanation about how she was just "so excited to be working here, dontcha know?" He nodded quickly, then mumbled an excuse about how he needed to go out to lunch for once. Lindsay's face fell, she was obviously hoping for an invitation.
Instead of leaving, Danny went back to the locker room, opening his locker, deciding to rearrange it. He needed something to take his mind off of her. As he shifted through some old photocopied case files, a picture fell out of them, floating and spinning towards the ground. He bent down to pick it up, not sure what it could be. He turned it over, and a tidal wave of emotions hit him square in the chest.
It was her. Her dark hair was everywhere, and she was laughing, a beer in her hand. She had never looked so beautiful. He was in it, too, off in the background, staring longingly at her, the one thing he wanted more than anything, but knew he could never have. It was too complicated.
It wasn't the same without her. The day after it happened, he woke up, ready to see her. Then, the sudden realization that she was gone washed over him, leaving him tired, empty. He walked into work and saw the new girl at her locker, and his world fell apart.
Still holding the photograph in his hand, he sat down. He stared at it until he knew for sure that there wasn't anyone as perfect as her. He hadn't seen her in a long time, and seeing the photo was like a breath of fresh air after being underwater too long; it hurt him, but because of it he was so much better.
"I remember that picture" came a quiet voice from beside him.
Danny turned around, relieved to see that it was only Stella. She sat down beside him on the locker room floor and wrapped her arm around his shoulder.
"You know I took that picture, right? That was by far the most fun office party of my life. I think that by the end of that night every single one of us was wasted. The highlight of the entire party was when Chad had one too many glasses of rum-punch and started getting all over Aiden. Boy, were you pissed. You grabbed Aiden's hand and led her off."
Even the mere mention of her name sent Danny's head reeling, and the rather unfamiliar sting of tears behind his eyes made him uncomfortable.
Stella noticed Danny's reaction, but kept on talking. "I took you and her home that night, and you insisted on staying with her to make sure he was alright. When you were out of earshot, she whispered to me, 'how is it possible for me to love him this much?' I tried to dismiss it as a random comment that someone makes when they're absolutely trashed, but somewhere, I never doubted for a second that she knew what she was talking about. And I also knew that you loved her." Stella smiled for a second, pausing. "Correction – you love her."
Danny took a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah I do."
A/N: ok, please dont yell. i suck at making stories long. i do short stories haha. So, if ya liked it or didnt, PLEASE review! Cat
