AN: Sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoy this chapter. All mistakes are mine. Please, read and review.
AN 2: JJ, you are so lucky!! Take photos okay??
He breathed deeply. He knew that what he was going to do wasn't a mistake. On the contrary, it could be the start of something new, something he had wanted so long. He had to do this right. For her. For them.
He went to his office and grabbed his jacket. Then, he went toward the elevators and pressed the button to the ground floor. He didn't know what he was going to say to Aiden, he had an idea but not the accurate words.
Ten minutes later he went in the little restaurant.
"Sorry I'm late" he greeted Aiden as he sat down without kissing her, something that didn't go unnoticed by Aiden.
"Don't worry" she said.
Danny started to check the menu when the waitress came to take their orders.
"I'll have a chicken sandwich and a soda, please" Aiden ordered.
"And I'll take a hamburger and coke"
Danny remained silent and Aiden asked:
"You have a new case?"
This seemed to take Danny out of his thoughts.
"What? Oh yeah yeah. We got a case this morning. A male victim was found by a runner, but it's almost over, they're bringing the suspect to question him"
"That easy?"
"Yeah. It looks like the killer was stupid"
"Oh. And who are you working with?"
"Flack"
"And you're the only CSI?"
"No, I'm not the only one" he answered.
"So?" she asked after a brief moment of silence.
"I'm working with Mont… Lindsay"
"That's the girl I met when we all went to Cozy's to hang out, isn't she?" When Danny nodded she continued "She's a nice girl, I like her"
"You're not the only one" he thought as he remembered that night.
FLASHBACK
"Hey Danny" Hawkes called him.
"Yes, Doc?"
"We all are going to Cozy's tonight, you wanna come?"
"Of course. What time at?" he asked.
"Around eight o'clock, okay?"
"Yes. That's perfect"
"Okay… oh and Danny?"
"Yes?"
"Bring Aiden"
Danny was going to meet Aiden at lunch. Once there and after a little chat, he said:
"The guys have told me that they're going to Cozy's tonight. Do you want to go with me?"
"Yeah, sure. Why not?" she replied.
"Good, I'll pick you up at your place at seven thirty, okay?"
"Fine"
After that he went back to work and at six o'clock he headed for home, but before he could reach the elevator, Mac called him.
"You're going to Cozy's tonight, aren't you?"
"Yes, why?"
"You know I play the bass there"
"Yes, I know"
"Great, because I want you to sing there tonight"
And before Danny could react, Mac had already left. Danny stood there till he noticed that the elevator had arrived.
"Are you kidding me?" he asked to himself.
It was six thirty when he reached his apartment, he kept thinking about what Mac had told him. Singing? Him? It wasn't that he was bad at it, quite the contrary; he played the guitar and sang pretty well, but in front of everyone? No way! Besides, Lindsay would be there, as well as Aiden. He took a shower to try to move those thoughts away. Fifteen minutes later he shaved and chose his clothes. A pair of jeans, a tight T-shirt and his green converse.
Twenty minutes later he was dressed, he combed his hair, grabbed his phone, his keys, his wallet and a jacket and left.
"Ms. Burn, you ready to go?" he greeted her.
"Hi to you too Danny" she replied "Let me grab my purse and I'm done" she did as she said. "Done. Let's go"
They drove in silence till Aiden asked:
"So… how was your afternoon?"
"Good, well, it sucked a bit, I had paperwork to do…"
Ten minutes later they arrived at Cozy's where the rest of the team already was. There was an awkward silence till Danny said:
"Oh sorry. Aiden this is Mont… Lindsay, Lindsay, this is Aiden"
"Hi" Aiden greeted "Nice to meet you"
"Hello" Lindsay replied "Same here"
Since that moment everyone laughed and drank until Mac announced that he was about to play the bass, he winked at Danny and added:
"It's your turn later Danny, don't forget it" and he was gone.
Ten minutes later Mac was back, everyone congratulated him while Danny tried to avoid his turn.
"Oh come on! I'll not do it… I don't wanna do it. It's just, why me? What about the others?"
Everybody tried to convince him unsuccessfully until Lindsay said:
"Come on Danny. Can the city boys beat countries?"
"You want to sing?" he replied.
"I haven't said that. I mean that country boys do it pretty well. Why don't you just try? We are not going to make fun of you. I swear" she said almost laughing.
"Oh yeah?" he turned around and went to the stage.
Once there he cleared his throat and said:
"Okay, my buddies here don't think I can do this. I didn't want to, but since they've challenged me and I'm that stubborn, I'm gonna do it"
He turned around again to choose the song.
'Okay' he thought 'let's see… damn, every single song is about love… 'How did I fall in love with you'; '18th floor balcony'; 'Til we ain't strangers anymore', but that's a duet so no; 'Back at one'; 'Accidentaly in love', sure… maybe when I say I love you to somebody…; 'Your song'; 'When you look me in the eyes'; 'Blind'; 'Everything'; 'First time'; 'Whatever it takes', I haven't done anything to be sorry for, so nop; 'All about you'; 'Far away'; 'One word'; 'Wait for you', this sounds great'. Then he said:
"Okay, I chose one. Hope you enjoy"
I never felt nothing in the world like this before
Now I'm missing you and I'm wishing you would come back through my door
Why did you have to go?
You could have let me know; so now I'm all alone
Girl you could have stayed but you wouldn't give me a chance
With you not around it's a little bit more than I can stand
And all my tears they keep runnin' down my face
Why did you turn away?
So why does your pride make you run and hide
Are you that afraid of me?
But I know it's a lie what you keep inside
This is not how you want it to be
So baby I will wait for you
Cause I don't know what else I can do
Don't tell me I ran out of time
If it takes the rest of my life
Baby I will wait for you
If you think I'm fine it just ain't true
I really need you in my life
No matter what I have to do
I'll wait for you
Been a long time since you called me
(How could you forget about me)
You gotta be feeling crazy
How can you walk away
(When) Everything stays the same
I just can't do it baby
What will it take to make you come back
Girl I told you what it is and it just ain't like that
Why can't you look at me?
You're still in love with me
Don't leave me crying
Baby why can't we just start all over again
Get it back to the way it was
If you give me a chance I can love you right
But you're telling me it won't be enough
So baby I will wait for you
Cause I don't know what else I can do
Don't tell me I ran out of time
If it takes the rest of my life
Baby I will wait for you
If you think I'm fine it just ain't true
I really need you in my life
No matter what I have to do
I'll wait for you
So why does your pride make you run and hide
Are you that afraid of me?
But I know it's a lie what you're keeping inside
That is not how you want it to be
Baby I will wait for you
Baby I will wait for you
If it's the last thing I do
Baby I will wait for you
Cause I don't know what else I can do
Don't tell me I ran out of time
If it takes the rest of my life
Baby I will wait for you
If you think I'm fine it just ain't true
I really need you in my life
No matter what I have to do
I'll wait for you
I'll be waiting...
He tried not to set his eyes on either Lindsay or Aiden, so he kept glaring at the rest of his audience. Everybody applauded when he finished. He reached the table and the team congratulated him.
In one of the moments when Danny went to pick the drinks, Aiden approached Lindsay.
"You know, it's nice to finally put a face to the name" she started.
"Excuse me?" a confused Lindsay asked.
"Sorry, I mean that it's nice to finally meet you after what Danny has told me about you" she explained.
"Oh well, thanks. I've heard a lot about you too". The conversation continued like that.
It was almost midnight when they said goodbye. Aiden and Danny were alone now.
"You want to stay at my place tonight?" she asked.
"No thanks. I have a busy day tomorrow"
Twenty minutes later they were back at her place.
"Thank you Danny"
"Anytime Aid"
"Are you sure you don't want to stay?"
"Yeah I'm sure. Thank you, though"
"Okay. Good night Danny" she said giving him a little peck.
"Good night"
After another fifteen minutes he was finally at his apartment. He was getting ready to sleep. He brushed his teeth, changed into his boxers and climbed onto the bed. He tried to sleep but he couldn't. He was thinking of Lindsay. 'Why?' he thought 'I'm with Aiden. I should be thinking of her. Not Lindsay' but he couldn't help because the song he had sung a few hours ago made him think over his relationship with those two women.
END FLASHBACK
"Danny, Danny. Are you okay?" Aiden asked.
"What…? Oh" he said coming back from his thoughts "Yes, I'm fine"
The food had arrived just minutes before. They started eating but Danny couldn't continue.
"Aiden… do you remember what I told you yesterday night?" he said unsure but when she nodded he carried on. "Well, I've been thinking and it's better if we… stop what we have… if we stop this. Look, I feel like I need fresh air, a change. I don't know what I want right now and it's not fair to you to be here when I'm not sure about what I want. You've been… you're very important to me and because of that I don't want to screw this up. I'm sorry but I think this is the best decision we can make. I'd like to be your friend after this but I'll understand if you don't" he looked at her and was surprised seeing her smiling.
"It was about time you realized, don't you think?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"Well, even I knew there was something going on with you. I know that you like Lindsay, maybe even more than like and it was time you realized because everyone knows except for you two. Danny, you look at her in ways you've never looked at me, and I saw it that night, but I knew you hadn't realized yet. Of course you're my best friend and that's not going to change okay? I know you have a special relationship with her and I'm happy for you" Danny started to feel guilty but Aiden stopped that feeling. "And no Danny, don't you dare to feel guilty because of your feelings. Sometimes you can't control them. Okay?" He nodded and the two got up.
"I gotta go back to the lab" he said.
"Don't worry okay?"
"Thank you Aiden. You mean a lot to me even if I just said what I…"
"Hey" she cut him off "I know. You mean a lot to me too".
The two hugged and Aiden said:
"Do me a favor okay?" Don't let her go and be nice to her cause if you aren't, I'll kick your ass"
Danny moved away and looked surprised.
"One" he started "we aren't together so why the 'don't let her go' line? And second, what did she say to you so you prefer her to me?" he said feigning hurt.
Aiden couldn't help laughing.
"Oh come on Danny! Everyone can see you like her and she likes you, it's just a matter of time. And second, she said nothing at all but I talked to her that night and she deserves to be happy".
"Yeah, but you too".
"Danny, I'm happy seeing you happy, you're my best friend, don't forget that, we weren't meant to be and I think I'm happier this way"
"Okay… well, I gotta go" he told her.
"Then go!" she hurried him.
Danny left the restaurant feeling much better, not only he had talked to Aiden, but he also had finally accepted his feelings toward Lindsay. It was about time to do what he had to do.
AN: Ok, a bit long?? :) Sorry. What do you think?? About the songs: How did I fall in love with you? – Backstreet Boys. 18th floor balcony – Blue October. Til we ain't strangers anymore – Bon Jovi and Leanne Rimes. Back at one – Brian Mcknight. Accidentaly in love – Counting Crows. Your song – Sir Elton John. When you look me in the eyes – Jonas Brothers. Blind, Everything, First time and Whatever it takes – Lifehouse. All about you – Mc Fly. Far away – Nickelback. One word and Wait for you – Elliot Yamin.
