A/N: Wow, thanks for the reviews everyone. I didn't think this would get this kind of attention, I guess. I'm glad you like it.
Disclaimer: I only own the OCs.
Sullivan's Bar
Manhattan, New York
October 14, 2006
8:17 PM
"What time do you think they'll get here?" Lindsay asked Liv, as she pulled open the door. She and Liv, who lived only one block apart, came from one direction while Ellie and Dallas, who lived in the same building, would be coming from the other. Sullivan's was between them (though a bit closer to Lindsay and Liv) and Lindsay knew this would become the new drinking spot.
Liv laughed as they went up to the bar. "Like 8:45." She giggled. "Maybe," She added as an afterthought. Lindsay picked up her beer and Liv took her Cosmo and they made their way into the back corner.
"Hey guys." Lindsay greeted. Mac, Stella, Adam, Marty, Sid, and Hawkes were already at the table. "Liv, you remember Hawkes and Adam from lunch today," Liv nodded, smiling at both. "That's Mac, Stella, Sid, and Marty."
"Hi there." Liv greeted all of them as she slid in next to Hawkes.
"Where's Danny and Flack?" Lindsay asked.
Stella shrugged. "They'll be here soon, I'm sure." She waved the thought away. "I can't believe you've been holding friends out on me. Girls, Lindsay, girls. Girls we can gossip to and shop with and share clothes with and talk to about boys. Boys that we can't talk about because we work with them."
"I know, Stell." Lindsay said. "I'm sorry. Two more will be here."
Stella sighed dramatically. "I guess you're forgiven."
"Forgiven for what?" Danny asked, as he sat down next to Lindsay.
"Hiding friends from Stella." Lindsay answered him.
"Friends?" Danny asked, looking around. "Oh hey Liv." He greeted. She waved to him, not bothering to look away from the conversation she and Hawkes were having about being doctors. "Ok, then." He said. "Cool."
"Hey guys." Ellie greeted enthusiastically. "What's up?" She slid into the opposite side of the large booth, next to Adam.
"Did you lose something?" Lindsay asked. Ellie's blue eyes narrowed in confusion as she tilted her head sideways. "She's about 5'9, brown hair, brown eyes, ridiculously tan skin, just got back from Brazil?"
Ellie looked relieved. "No, she's getting our drinks at the bar." She pointed and sure enough, Dallas was holding a fruity drink and a beer in one hand and texting in the other, a grin on her face.
"You're still texting him?" Ellie asked. Dallas nodded happily as she placed the fruity drink into front of the blonde. "You are ridiculous."
"Well he's not here." Dallas said.
"What do you mean?" Lindsay asked.
"She and Flack have been texting all afternoon. They traded numbers when we left today and haven't stopped since." Ellie said.
"That was you?" Stella exclaimed, looking over at Dallas, who nodded. "I went down to talk to him and he was all smiles and distracted."
"Aww really?" Dallas said. Stella nodded. "Aww he's so cute." She sounded like she actually meant it, and was excited. She picked up her phone as it vibrated and after a few seconds, smiled and laughed, before texting back.
"Dal, El, this is Marty, Sid, Stella, and Mac." Lindsay said. "That's Ellie and Dallas." They waved. "Stella wants to come shopping with us next time."
"Ok." Dallas said immediately. "Yay, new friends."
"Dallas is a people person." Lindsay explained. "She's been dying to meet you guys because she loves meeting new people."
"It's because you guys get boring." Dallas said sticking her tongue out at Lindsay.
"Is Flack boring?" Lindsay countered, sticking her tongue out.
Dallas shook her head. "Nope. Not yet at least."
Lindsay sighed. "Just remember I work with him, ok? No really embarrassing stories, alright?"
As she said that, Flack slid into the booth next to Dallas. "Hey," He greeted her, before turning to Lindsay. "A fire escape, really?"
Lindsay immediately turned red and glared at Dallas as Liv and Ellie burst into laughter.
"That was the only one, I swear!" Dallas said, holding her hands up defensively.
"Fire escape?" Danny asked, clearly intrigued. "Do tell, Montana."
"Nope," Lindsay said. "Not happening." She turned to Flack, who had opened his mouth to speak. "And if you tell him, I'll send her brothers after you."
To his credit, Flack didn't look remotely scared until he saw the look on Dallas's face.
"Ok, children." Mac said, seeing that Don was about to reply. "Let's switch to a safer topic."
Sullivan's Bar
Manhattan, New York
October, 14, 2006
11:35 PM
"Ok," Stella said, taking charge. "Dallas, which way are you headed?"
Dallas pointed left. "Ellie and I both go that way." Stella nodded and looked pointedly at Flack.
"I got it Stell." Flack told her. "Make sure they get home all right. And Adam and Marty go that way too. I'm extremely confident that the three of us can handle it." His tone was semi-serious but his facial expression told Stella that he would actually do it.
"Ok, I guess the rest of us go the other way." Stella said. After various hugs between people (mostly the girls), the two groups split up.
"You know," Stella said. "We should have a girl's movie night sometime."
"Dal's apartment." Lindsay volunteered. "She totally won't mind, plus she's got the big TV and a ton of movies."
"Big TV?" Danny said. "How uh how big is this TV?"
Lindsay laughed. "You ever wanna watch a Knicks or Rangers game, give her a call. Dal loves sports."
"Buke's a Rangers fan?" Danny asked. At some point in the night, he had shortened her last name and christened that her nickname from him.
"Yeah." Liv said, suspiciously. "Why does it matter?"
"Flack," Danny began. "is a huge Rangers fan. And there is nothing he likes more than a nice conversation about his precious Rangers. If she can keep up with him, I'll tell you, he'll be in love."
"Then Flack's found a new girlfriend," Liv said. "Because she'll keep up easily."
"Excellent," Stella said. "He could use a girlfriend after the bomb." Mac, Hawkes, Sid, Danny, and Lindsay all nodded their agreement.
It was time for the second split of the night. Hawkes and Liv would go one way, while the others would all go the other. After a quick 'see you later' and 'I'll call you tomorrow' between Lindsay and Liv, Lindsay split off with Danny, Mac, Stella, and Sid.
"Hey, Hawkes," Liv asked quietly, as the two walked toward her building.
"Hmm?" He turned to her, struck, as he had been many times today, by her beauty.
"What did Stella mean earlier?" Liv asked. "About the bomb? What bomb? What was she talking about?"
Hawkes sighed. He always hated talking about this. Liv seemed to sense his hesitance to answer. "I'm sorry." She said. "You…you don't have to answer that if you don't want to."
"No," Hawkes said. "No, it's ok. Do you…remember that bomb that went off last May?" Liv nodded. "Well, Don was inside that building when it…exploded…and he was injured pretty badly. He just came back to work a couple weeks ago."
"But he's ok, right?" Liv asked. "Like I mean, he will be, right?"
Hawkes nodded. "Yeah. He's doing all right."
Liv nodded. "Good."
"Why?" Hawkes teased. "You got a crush on him? Cause I think you're out of luck. He seems pretty taken with your best friend."
"No!" Liv exclaimed. "God, no. I mean, he's cute and everything but so not my type." She paused. "Plus, Dal doesn't take to guys easily like that too often. In fact, the last time she did was when we were like 19. She really likes him." Liv stopped and looked up at him, for two reasons. The first being that they were outside her building. The second being that she wanted to see his expression on her last comment.
"He really likes her." Hawkes said.
Liv smiled and took a step closer. "She could use someone like him."
Hawkes smiled back at her. "He could use someone like her."
Liv nodded and stepped back. "Good." She placed her hand on his bicep. "Thanks for bringing me home. Good night Hawkes."
"Night Liv." He watched as she turned to her door. "Hey Liv?" Her hand was on the door handle as she turned to look at him. "Would you, maybe, want to go get some dinner with me sometime?" Liv smiled at him and nodded quickly. "Ok," Hawkes grinned. "See you later."
"Later," Liv said, pulling open the door. She stepped inside and leaned against the wall before doing a very Ellie-like thing—she squealed…about a date.
A Couple Blocks Over
Manhattan, New York
October 14, 2006
11:47 PM
"Bye guys." Lindsay stood with Danny, waving at Stella, Mac, and Sid as the group got smaller again.
"So, Montana," Danny began.
"I'm sorry." Lindsay said. "I know, I shouldn't bring this up and I know I already said this but I am."
Danny shrugged. "It's ok, Linds."
Lindsay shook her head. "No, Danny, it's not. It's not. I'm sorry. It's just, I'm going through some stuff and I…"
Danny finished. "need some time to get through it." He stopped and grabbed her arm. "Hey, Montana, look at me." She looked up at him. "I will give you whatever time you need to get through this."
Tears came to the corners of Lindsay's eyes and he pulled her close to him. "Thanks Danny."
"I mean it, Linds," Danny said. "I'll be here when you're ready."
Lindsay finally pulled away. "Can we stop for some coffee, maybe?" She shrugged. "And you know, just talk a little. I can't tell you this…not yet at least. But maybe about other stuff?"
Danny nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that." Lindsay nodded and smiled as Danny took her hand and led her into the nearby diner. "Come on Montana, let's talk."
The Opposite Side of Town
Manhattan, New York
October 15, 2006
12:03 PM
"Bye Marty," Dallas waved cheerfully as the first member to leave their group entered his building. "Ok, I'm drunk." During the night, she and Marty had gotten into a drinking contest. It had been close, but in the end Dallas had come out on top…but she sure would be feeling it tomorrow.
Flack laughed. "Just a bit." And it was true. The walk home was actually helping her sober up, even if she couldn't walk without assistance. Flack's arm had wrapped around her, giving her the support she needed to walk, after she had tripped four different times, and at some point, Dallas's arm had made its way around Flack.
Ellie and Adam were walking a bit behind Dallas and Flack, who had been laughing and talking the entire way home, like they had known each other for years and not hours.
"I'm kind of embarrassed to know them right now." Ellie said. "Well not so much him, really only her."
Adam laughed. "Yeah, it's a good thing Flack's with her. She's being kinda loud and crazy. If we pass any officers, he'll just whip out his badge and fight crime…or help his semi-girlfriend."
Ellie giggled. "It's like Cinderella…except Prince Charming saves her from a drunk and disorderly instead of her evil stepmother."
"Are you talking about us?" Dallas turned her head back toward them.
"Nope." Ellie said, shooting a look at Adam.
"Oh, ok." Dallas said. "Carry on."
"Is she always like this?" Adam laughed.
"Pretty much." Ellie said. "She's always been the wild, crazy one, telling everybody to loosen up and have some fun. Doesn't care what anyone thinks as long as she's happy. I guess you can't argue with that." She shrugged. "But she puts up these walls. I know it doesn't look like it, because of how close they are. I mean, they've only known each other for a couple hours and look at them." She gestured to the two. Flack had pulled her even closer and Dallas was leaning against him as they walked. "But all of the big stuff, and believe me, she's got a lot of big stuff to tell, won't get pulled out until way later."
"What about you?" Adam asked. "You put up walls like she does?"
Ellie shook her head and smiled. "Nah, I'm pretty open with everything." She frowned as she watched Flack and Dallas stop outside the apartment building. "But then again, I haven't had people betray me like she has."
Adam took her hand and lightly squeezed it, sensing she was done with the conversation. "See you Ellie."
"Bye Adam." Ellie smiled and walked over to the door, stopping to wait for Dallas, who had turned so she was facing Flack.
"So," She said, tilting her head back and looking into his beautiful blue eyes with her sparkly brown ones.
"So," He mimicked, smirking down at her. "So, what?" Dallas widened her eyes up at him as she pulled back from him. With a laugh, he pulled her close to him and leaned down slightly to whisper in her ear. "Have dinner with me tomorrow night."
Dallas giggled. "I'll have to think about it." She pulled back from him, bit her lip, and then stood up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "Pick me up at 7?"
"Bye Dal," Flack said, watching her walk to the door, where she grabbed Ellie's arm and did a little jump of excitement.
He'd had a good feeling about today when he woke up, the first true good feeling since the bomb.
He was glad it had actually come true.
A/N: So, what did we think of this chapter?
