She awoke the next morning with a sharp shooting pain in her head.

Oh the joys of the morning after hangover.

She blinked away the sleep in her eyes, trying to fight with the sunlight that was creeping its way through her shades. Noticing for the first time that she was dressed in pajamas and laying in her bed, she began to wonder: how had she gotten here in the first place? The alcohol had taken an obvious toll on her memory, pictures flashing fuzzily past her eyes. Some things she could remember clearly, like seeing Danny and that bitch Rikki trying to converse confidentially at the bar, and her throwing back tequila shot after tequila shot like there was no tomorrow. But other things just wouldn't come to her mind. Like the still present question of how she had gotten back to her apartment in one piece, let alone how she hadn't been vandalized in some way on the trip home.

The aroma of coffee that filled her lungs gave her the answer.

Danny.

He was the only person she knew that seemed to have more cream and sugar in his cup than actual coffee. Sensing the familiar scent of vanilla and coffee beans, she began to piece together what had happened the previous night.

-----------

It had been a long day at work. Lindsay had gone through much more than the average weeks case load in just one day, leaving her completely exhausted at the close of her shift. The bags under her eyes, however, were not solely from her work fatigue. She hadn't gotten more than a wink of sleep since she had uncovered the secret Danny had been keeping. Sure, it had been merely a one night stand with another grieving soul, but it was so much more to Lindsay. She loved Danny, wholly and completely. It took a lot for her to trust someone, and for him to go and break their bond had torn her in more ways than ever imaginable. She didn't tell him that she knew, that would only put more of a strain on their "relationship" than there already was. She had told him she was in love with him, and he had tried to crawl back, only making her more upset. Where were they supposed to go from there?

When Stella had offered her a girls night out, claiming it would "get her mind off of him", she had never expected Flack to be having the same thoughts for Danny. When she entered the bar, she saw his pained face and darted for the opposite side of the bar, dragging Stella behind her. If anything was supposed to take her mind off of him, his presence obviously wasn't going to be the thing to do it. Instead, she ordered herself a martini and tried to relax, tried to think of other things. But her mind kept returning to Danny. She longed to run across the bar, slap him across the face and the jump into his arms, but she knew she couldn't do it. She didn't have the strength, the willpower, the patience. They were within eyesight of each other the entire night, the only downside to being in a small bar. Every so often, she would catch him staring at her, eyes wide and full of guilt, sorrow, pain. She would simply shrug at him and stare back down into her glass, wishing it would swallow her up and save her from the nightmare to come.

As the night grew on, she found herself mustering up enough courage to approach him. Whether it was the amount of alcohol she had consumed or simply her generosity, she figured she would give him the benefit of the doubt and at least acknowledge his presence. But as she got up to approach his table, there she was, clear as day.

Rikki.

Standing over Danny's table, looking whore-ish as ever, her hand running up and down his back, the pair clearly engrossed in some sort of conversation. Whether it be playful or serious, either way, Lindsay had just gone from completely calm to completely heated. Not taking the time to think things through, she went to the bar, downed a shot of tequila and headed over to their table, determined as ever to remove this bitch from existence.

"So, you like stealing other girl's men, do you?"

Barely after the words had left her mouth, her fist collided with the other girl's face, a scream erupting from her lungs causing all heads to turn and the expression on Danny's face to go from mouth dropping, to smile, to complete shock all over again. Lindsay returned to her table and in one swift motion, grabber her purse, downed another shot, and exited the bar, Danny chasing after her.

-----------

After that, they had fought in the middle of the street, exchanged harsh words, and from what she gathered, he had obviously been the one to take her back to her apartment. But what was he still doing here?

She sighed as she managed to roll herself out of her bed and into her slippers that were laying on the floor. She crept down the hallway wishing she could just curl up into a ball and forget about everything that had happened; maybe if she wished hard enough, it would all just go away. No sooner was she thinking these thoughts than she saw Danny, clad in only boxers, standing in her kitchen making himself another pot of coffee. As he watched the liquid brew, he pinched the brim of his nose, taking a deep breath and sighing, clearly immersed in deep thought. It made Lindsay chuckle, causing him to be broken from his trance to stare up at her.

She was beautiful, even if she was standing in the middle of the kitchen in an oversized Yankees t-shirt, short shorts, and fuzzy pink slippers, her hair mangled in random directions and her makeup smeared. She was his, there was no other way to put it. He loved her no matter what she looked like. The deep want to take her up in his arms and kiss her into next week wouldn't subside as he tried to give her a cheerful smile.

"Hey Montana, how'd ya sleep?"

"Fine I guess," she replied crossing her arms, trying to keep her guard up. "I see you crashed here last night."

He stared at the couch, the jumbled mess of pillows and blankets from his sleepless fits strewn about.

"Uh yeah, yeah I didn't wanna leave you here alone in case you woke up in the middle of the night sick or somethin'. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, no it's fine." His sincerity was genuine, she could see it in his deep blue eyes. She couldn't stay mad at him forever.

But she was entitled to milk this out for the time being, wasn't she?

"Okay, that's cool," he said, a smile creeping its way onto his face. "You want some coffee?" he asked her, pointing to the cup in his hand.

"Is it going to be the Messer specialty, or will I actually be able to taste more than just the sugar?" she replied, quickly regretting the joke after he laughed in response.

"I guess I could make you a normal cup. You're in for a nasty headache, it's the least I could do." He poured her a cup of coffee just the way she liked it, two sugars and a manageable amount of cream, then went to the cabinet where she kept the medicine, shifting around her kitchen like he had lived there for years. He had spent countless nights in the apartment with her, it was like they were roommates. Up until recently, he had grown accustomed to living with Lindsay, hoping to one day make it a permanent situation. He brought her the cup of steaming coffee as well as two ibuprofen and took a seat opposite her at the small kitchen table, watching her, observing her every move and facial expression, trying to read into her thoughts and figure out what she was thinking. It would at least give him a clue as to where he should begin.

"So…coffee okay?" he started out, wanting to break the silence that had begun to hurt his ears.

"Yeah, it's fine thanks," she replied quietly, moving her eyes to stare down at the brown liquid in her touristy "I Love NY" cup that Danny had bought her as a joke when she had first moved in.

"That's good, that's good," he began to ramble. He didn't exactly know how to start their conversation, but he knew he had to right all of his wrongs before he lost her for good, a thought that was quickly thrown to the back of his thoughts as she startled him, beginning to speak.

"So…what time does your shift start? I don't want you to be late." She was clearly trying to push him away, something he wouldn't have.

"I actually took off today," he replied, using his oh-so-convenient schedule to his advantage. He wasn't getting out of here without explaining himself, she had to know the truth.

"Oh. Well that's nice. You'll have some time to spend with your new girlfriend." The stare she gave him was enough to make him wish he was under a guillotine rather than under her gaze. She left him at the kitchen table alone as she got up, heading somewhere behind him.

"Lindsay, will you please let me explain?" he begged, following her to the sink where she began to rinse out her cup, watching the brown liquid spiral down the drain, mixing in with the sudsy water.

"There's nothing to explain Danny. You needed someone to grieve with, and clearly your girlfriend, the one you're supposed to trust with everything, wasn't the person. I understand that completely. So what are you still doing here?"

"This." he grabbed either side of her face with his monstrous hands, kissing her passionately with his all, trying to suck all of the bad memories out of her. She grabbed onto his arms, kissing him more fiercely than he had started out, obviously wanting to forget as much as he did.

They continued kissing, growing more and more unaware of the rest of the world around them as shirts were tossed, pants discarded, and they eventually ended up on the couch. This was were he needed to be, not with that slut, not with Rikki, with his Lindsay. Her arms were the only place he needed to be. As memories of Rikki flooded out of his system, images of her deceased son flashed before his eyes, tears beginning to stream out of his system as he pulled away from her lingering kiss and began to sob.

"Danny? Messer, what's wrong, what is it?"

"I need you Linds. I need you."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and, burying his face in her chest, began to sob uncontrollably. She pulled him in tighter, running her hand through his hair, then down to his face to wipe the tears away. He was going to need some time before he calmed down, so she managed to sit up into a more comfortable position, pulling him into her lap as he continued crying.

The sound of his cell phone buzzing on the coffee table in front of them pulled her from her thoughts of the man she loved grieving in her lap. He was obviously completely oblivious to the noise, and she figured it was probably Mac needing an extra hand. Her face went from hopeful to utterly pissed off as she read the name on display.

Call From Rikki.

The cold voice was speaking on the other end before Lindsay could even throw in her two cents.

"Hey babe, you're coming over later right? You promised, you can't just leave me hanging. I need you."

That was it.

She threw the phone across the room, Danny jumping as it crashed into the wall, breaking into dozens of pieces as she stood up off the couch and headed for the door, throwing it open and gesturing out towards the hallway.

"Get the HELL out of here Daniel Messer, and don't you EVER show you worthless piece of shit face here again!"