A/N: So I really struggled with this chapter. I know where I want things to end up, but it's hard to get there. Anyway, I hope it's okay. Let me know what you think!
This chapter is set during Personal Foul. I don't know all the exact timing, so I made up my own. The next chapter is going to be from Lindsay's perspective, at least in the beginning. I am going to take a stab at the whole Danny and Lindsay "rain walk" part.
Disclamer: I do not own CSI:NY or any of the characters.
It had been a whole month since the whole car incident, and Don was more confused than ever, he thought as he grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down at his computer. What had started as an attempt to reach out had turned into a whirlwind of emotions.
After the kiss, Lindsay wouldn't stop apologizing and Don had to assure her that it was okay and that he had been the one to lean in initially. Truth be told, he didn't know who had initiated it. All he knew was that it had ended sooner than he would have liked.
The days following the incident, Lindsay had been a little distant. It worried Don because he wanted anything but distance between them. Eventually, he decided to act as though nothing had happened and Lindsay followed his lead. Everything went back to normal, much to Don's disappointment.
After some time, he convinced himself that whatever he was feeling was just the effect of his new found friendship with Lindsay. She had slowly begun to turn to him more and open up more to him, and in turn, he began to share more with her. They had become really close friends and he was okay with that, he constantly told himself.
He began to pay more attention to Angell. She was beautiful and smart, and not to mention she had been sending hints his way for a long while. He would have to be a complete idiot not to pursue anything with her.
Of course, he didn't have too much time on his hands to really sort any of this out. The city was in deep distress due to the "cabbie killer" and the whole department was working overtime to catch the creep. It was a good distraction for him, except for the few times that he walked through the lab and saw Danny and Lindsey working on something together. He always felt something bubble inside of him slightly when he saw them talking to each other, or when they were sharing a microscope, or when they shared a laugh. It didn't happen too often because Lindsay tried to avoid Danny as much as possible, but he also knew that she was still madly in love with him and love like that was hard to get over. He wasn't even sure that she wanted to get over it, and he knew that Danny was hanging to that small little thread of hope. Danny would have to be a fool to give up on her so easily.
Don was interrupted from his stream of thoughts by his cell phone. As he got up to grab his phone, he silently prayed that it wasn't work. It was his first day off since the whole cabbie killer thing began. He looked at his phone and saw Danny's name appear on the screen.
"Flack" he answered.
"Hey man, you busy tonight?" Danny asked.
"What, you askin me out?"
"Very funny… anyway, I got an extra ticket for tonight's game, you interested?"
"Messer, I'm hurt that you would wait last minute to ask me to go out," Don said jokingly.
"Look, I was supposed to take Lindsay and now she can't go… you interested or not?"
"Yeah, I'll meet you there." Don answered.
Why was it that every time Don had a night off he ended up working anyway?
At half time, a guy from the audience had been randomly chosen to take a million dollar shot and died soon after making it. Now here he was with Danny and Lindsay trying to find something that would explain this guy's death.
From the moment Lindsay had arrived, Danny had tried to be as casual as possible, but Don could tell that he was silently suffering as he watched her work. Don felt bad for Danny. Yes, he had been the one to mess everything up, but he knew that Danny would have taken everything back if he could have just one more moment with her. The thought made Don feel very uncomfortable and slightly guilty. He could tell that Danny was somewhat envious of all the time that he and Lindsay had started spending together. Though it was all innocent, Don had to admit that sometimes his thoughts weren't always as innocent. He didn't fantasize about her, but he would catch himself thinking of what they would be like together or he would catch himself wanting to hold her hand or touch her face. Sure, things with Jess were going well, but he wasn't sure about his feelings for her yet and their work schedules weren't helping anything.
After gathering all the evidence, Danny and Lindsay went back to the lab to start processing while Don went to do some research on the victim. After finishing up, he headed back to his car and went home to finish the beer he had opened earlier that evening.
Working on this basketball case was harder than his usual cases. Not because of the victim or the suspects, but because of who he was working with. He didn't really want to be around Danny and Lindsay together. It took a lot out of him, and he had to work really hard to focus on the case. He tried acting as cool as possible, but even Lindsay could tell he was off.
To add to his discomfort, he had had the opportunity to overhear Danny asking Lindsay to talk while he was on his way to get some lab results. He knew that they needed to, but he was afraid that they would make up and he would lose Lindsay, as a friend, Don told himself. On the other hand, he did enjoy was watching Lindsay at work. She was clever, smart, and quick and a lot of the times she came up with the answers before they did. He just wanted to work with her by himself.
After questioning one of the cheerleaders and getting a confession, he went to work on the paperwork. As soon as he was done, he hurried to catch Lindsay before she left. He spotted her as she stepped on the elevator and ran to get on it with her.
"So that was interesting," Flack stated.
"Yeah, but oddly understandable," Lindsay said while laughing.
"You tellin me that you would have done the same?"
"Of course not, but I can imagine the hurt that lingered all these years. To us, it many not seem like a big deal, but everyone has something that hurts them so deeply that it makes them do crazy things."
She responded as though she was talking about something else entirely. Just then, they arrived at the lobby and made their way to the exit.
"When did it start raining?" Don asked, "You need a ride home?"
"Actually, I think I'm going to walk," she said smiling.
He would have argued with her and made her come with him, but something told him that she genuinely wanted to walk in the rain. So he let it go and watched her walk away in the rain.
Don woke up at noon and he felt good. The last couple days had been eventful, but the worst was now over. The cabbie killer was taken care of, and his hours had gone back to normal. He had managed to get the day off and he was looking forward to it. He got out of bed, went for a run, checked his email, ate, showered and ran some errands. Before he knew it, it was already 9 pm and he was ready to watch the football game on TV. As he sat down, his phone rang and saw that it was Lindsay.
"Flack" he answered.
"Hey, come grab a drink with me," she said.
"Damn, you just cut right to chase, don't you?"
"Sorry", she laughed. "I just got done at the lab and I was headed home, but I kinda feel like going out. You interested?
"Maybe, where were you thinking?" He asked.
"How about that bar a couple blocks from your place?"
"Ok, gimme 20 minutes?"
"Alright, I'll see you there."
He hung up his phone and headed to the bedroom to change out of his sweats. It wasn't unusual for Lindsey to call him to hang out since they had become better friends, but it still made his heart pound just a little bit harder.
Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at the bar and spotted Lindsey at a small table in the corner. As he approached her, he suddenly became dizzy. She was wearing small beater style tank top with a tight pair of jeans, and her hair was pulled up in a messy bun with curls falling out of it. In all the time he had known Lindsey, he had never seen her so casually dressed or even a whole lot of her skin. But tonight, her shirt barely covered her midriff and whenever she leaned slightly to drink some of her beer, more skin was exposed.
He gave himself a few seconds to recover and compose himself and header over to the table.
"I see you've started without me," he spoke from behind. She turned and gave him a big smile and he had to stop himself from blurting out how crazy he was about her, which he wasn't, he kept telling himself.
"So I'm a little impatient…" she answered as he sat down.
"How was work?"
"It was okay, just some damage control and wrapping things up."
"So I didn't miss anything"
"Nope," she sighed. He could tell something was up, but he figured that she would tell him in when she was ready.
"Is that what you wore to work?" he asked with a glint in his eye that didn't go unnoticed.
"Why do you ask?"
"I've just never seen you dressed like that."
"Do you know how humid it was today? By the time I got to work, my shirt was drenched in sweat and this is all I had in my locker," she said.
"Yeah, I noticed… it's been really muggy since that storm a couple nights ago."
"Yeah, rain…" she muttered to herself. Right when he was going to ask about that, his phone rang in his pocket. He grabbed it and saw Angell's name pop up. Hew was tempted to ignore it, but he decided against it.
"I gotta take this, I'll be right back." Lindsey nodded and Don stepped outside to get away from all the noise inside the bar.
"Hey Jess, what's up?"
"Hey, you know that wedding you invited me to?"
Of course he knew, they had talked about going together a couple weeks back, even though he had been reluctant to ask her. It was his cousin's wedding and his family was going to be there. If he showed up with Jess, then they would be saying they were serious and he definitely wasn't there yet. But his cousin had demanded that he not be dateless for fear that he would try to hit on all her bridesmaids.
"Yeah, what about it?" he asked.
"I didn't realize this, but I already made plans for that night so… you're gonna have to find another date." She sounded a little disappointed and it made him feel guilty that he hadn't really wanted to go with her in the first place.
"Well, I don't have to bring a date. I'll just tell my cousin to deal with it."
"No, it's okay. You can take someone else… we're not exclusive," she responded.
"Alright… thanks for the heads up."
"No problem, well I gotta run, see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, see ya then."
He hung up his phone and headed back into the bar. As soon as he got to the table, Lindsey started interrogating him.
"So… you and Jess?" she asked. He swore he was imagining things because for a second he thought he saw a flash of disappointment on her face.
"Yeah, kinda… it's nothing serious though."
"Oh, well I think that's great… she's pretty amazing." Lindsey said. Don just laughed and was hoping he would be successful in changing the subject.
"So you were saying about the rain?" he asked.
"It's nothing", she said.
But Don knew he had hit the nail on the head. Whatever was bothering her had something to do with rain, which sounded odd when he thought it in his head.
"C'mon Linds, I'm not stupid. What is it?"
"Ok," she sighed. "I finally talked to Danny."
He knew this was a big deal. They hadn't talked about anything that had happened and he knew that this talk would either result in the closure she needed or their getting back together. Danny had asked for advice on how to approach things with her, and Don had tried to give him the best advice possible no matter how he was feeling about the situation. Since he hadn't had a chance to talk to either of them for too long, he wasn't sure what the outcome had been.
"Well, what happened?"