Chapter Eleven: Distance

Crazy I know, but I'm scared to fall
In a place I've been to before
Not apart of my plan

Keep him in your distance, guarding your position
I try so hard but love will always get its way
Why me, why now

The Saturdays - Why Me, Why Now?

Her phone was buzzing, she could hear it vibrating through the wooden nightstand as it yanked her from the deepest sleep she'd had in months. She reached for her phone and suddenly found that she couldn't physically move. For a second she panicked, sleep making her groggy and disorientated, Mia opened her eyes and for a second she found she couldn't breath.

Danny's face was inches from hers, he looked peaceful. His boyish innocence shone through, as his hair flopped over his face. Her heart began to beat harder in her chest, she could feel it thud in her ribcage as she stared at his sleeping face.

God, I am weak.

There was a part of her that savored this, that enjoyed the sense if security that came from this man. The other ninety five percent wanted to run screaming. That was self preservation at it it's best.

Somehow she managed to turn over, yet de-tangling herself from his arms was not as easy. His lips grazed the back of her neck, as she squirmed lightly, finally managing to shift his body, so that he ended up laying flat on his back, sprawled out across the bed.

Thank God Danny was a heavy sleeper.

She found herself standing over the bed watching the rise and fall of his chest, smirking at the light snore erupting from him. Typical Danny he thought, reaching out to brush the hair from his forehead. She stopped dead before her fingers touched his skin.

What the hell was she doing?

She curled her hand into a fist.

This was so not good. She withdrew from the room quickly, finding her clothes where Danny had placed them to dry yesterday on his radiators. She remembered his smile as he spread them out across the surface. Warmth flooded all of her senses, as she cast a glance back at the bedroom door longing to take that step forward and climb back into bed again.

She shook it off. There was not a chance in hell she was letting this happen. She refused to develop feelings for Danny Messer, because along time ago when she had, when she was finally starting to let her defenses down and fall for him, he'd taken her heart and broken it into a thousand pieces. He'd made her what she was today.

She disposed of Danny's teeshirt and tugged on her own clothes, still slightly damp from the rain the night before.

Mia snatched up her purse before bursting out of the apartment door as if the hounds of hell were on her trail.

The sun was in his eyes, the light shined through the gap in the curtains from his attempt to close them last night. He turned his head away grunting before reaching out for Mia.

His hand enclosed on cool sheets. He opened his eyes to find the pillow next to him empty. The sheets on her side were wrinkled. Danny found himself sitting up, and staring at the empty space, his jaw clenched , and his mouth set in a firm line.

She was gone again.

Danny ran a hand though his hair, feeling a lump in his throat. He wondered what he'd done this time. Why he even cared? He'd believed her last night, when they were standing in the rain. Danny flopped back on the pillow turning his head to face the alarm clock.

Six forty five...

She must have left early.

Danny lay there staring at the ceiling. Without the shadow of a doubt he knew that going back to sleep was no longer an option.

It was early, the bright light was shining in her eyes through the windows of the lab as she meandered down the corridors, her reports clasped firmly in her hands. Despite her cool, calm exterior Mia knew she was freaking out, her insides had gone to jelly somewhere after she'd stepped into work this morning. She couldn't understand where the collected professional had gone, and why she had been replaced with this sub-human mess.

She didn't do this. She didn't stay over at guy's places, even if there was a thunder storm impending. She was never that sort of girl, the one that they took home to mom. She was the casual one, the one that always got laid and walked away because it was easier to do that.

Yet somehow his morning she'd woken up wrapped in Danny's Messer's arms. His face buried in her hair and his body curled around hers. His scent came back to her a manly musk, twinged with soap and a fading aftershave. She had to admit she liked waking up beside him, because somehow he made her feel safe.

Escaping had been hard, untangling herself from Danny's arms without waking him was a skill she was well rehearsed in. It was the part after that that hit her. The part where she found herself looking down at him. It had been hard to walk away. Hard not to climb back into bed with him, and be safe and warm again.

Mia made the mistake of pausing mid corridor, head bowed as she concentrated on the words in front of her. She felt his presence before she caught his familiar scent.

"You left early this morning." Danny commented his voice still husky from sleep.

Mia turned to face him as he stood before her. Her eyes fixed in the dark circles underneath his eyes. He didn't look like he'd slept much at all.

"I had to change into dry clothes before coming to work. Did you sleep last night?" she asked studying him, perplexed.

She'd practically passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Danny crossed his arms over his chest, his expression sullen.

"Your boyfriends kept calling, your phone kept me up for a while." he responded grimly.

Mia pursed her lips together tightly, clasping her files to her chest.

"Is that what we're calling them now?" she said starting to walk down the corridor, Danny in tow.

"You tell me." Danny snorted.

"Connections, acquaintances..."

"You have guys on speed dial." he pointed out.

Mia shrugged.

"I doesn't mean I call them." she retorted

Danny rolled his eyes and stepped directly into her path making them face to face.

"Stop walking for a second and talk to me."

"What's there to say?" she stated exasperated, holding up her reports in one hand. "I need to get these done."

"So your back to being the Ice Queen again?" Mia's head snapped up, the anger in her eyes blazing as she starred him.

"Don't call me that." she growled.

"You did exactly the same thing now as you did last time, you are shutting me out."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm trying to work."

"Your shift doesn't start for..." Danny checked his watch. "Another three hours. So let's just cut the bullshit and get down to the point."

Danny crossed his arms over his chest, eyes on her. Mia looked away.

"You're freaking out." he stated.

"I am not freaking out." Mia exclaimed quickly.

"You seem to be forgetting the fact I know you. I have dated you Mia, I know the way you think." he paused, his expression softening. "You asked me for comfort last night, and I gave it to you as a friend."

Mia said nothing. The word friend still ringing in her ears.

"Everyone gets lonely, it happens. You're still in a weird transitional phase at the minute. The job's new, it's disruptive. You just gotta take it as it comes." Danny told her.

"So this happened to you right? You got all confused about where you wanted to be and shit." Mia asked, cradling the files to her chest.

Danny crossed his arms over his chest and bowed his head.

"After I broke my wrist and my baseball career went down the tube..." Danny submitted, clenching his jaw and turning his head away.

"So I was really your comfort." Mia put forward.

Danny met her eyes, seeing the apprehension there and hating it.

"When I needed someone you were there." he admitted.

"And when you didn't need me anymore I was gone." she concluded.

"How can you be so cold about this? Last night you were practically begging me to take you home and now you're trying to pretend it didn't happen. You're acting just like you did then." Danny snapped.

Mia fought all the restraint she had not to slap him.

"You broke up with me remember..." she said as jabbed her finger into his chest. "You broke my heart. You decided you didn't need me and you ended it. Do you even know what that feels like? You were the only person who saw everything. The only person who knew who I was."

"You agreed with me Mia. You said that it was the right thing to do." Danny reminded her.

Mia let her shoulders slump.

"What was I supposed to do? If you wanted to leave there wasn't a chance in hell I was going to try to make you stay. I wouldn't have been fair," she told him, shaking her head.

"Neither is this." Danny gestured to the both of them. "You come back into my life as if everything is just the same. Well it's not Mia it's different. I am different. We can't keep acting like a pair of teenagers with all the hormones racing. I can't do the casual thing with you."

"I don't trust you Danny, I want to but... I just can't. You don't remember what I was like for me back then. You were the only one I had, the only one I could really hold on to. I can't get hurt like that again, especially not by you." Mia said her voice small.

"Then we both know where we stand." Danny said, crossing his arms over his chest. "This doesn't go any further that it already has."

Mia found herself shrugging.

"What ever you say Danny."

Mia watched as Danny turned his back on her and strode toward the elevators.

Something's were best left alone and Danny Messer was one of them.

Mia was deep in thought, finishing off her paper work when the door to her office burst open. She raised her eyes to see Flack standing in the door way, his cornflower blue eyes wide and intent as they fell on her.

"Can I help you?" Mia chimed, tilting her head, pouting at the young Detective.

She still didn't like him. She could appreciate he was a good cop, one of the best, but she couldn't get over the sheer fact he was an asshole.

"You seen Sam?" he grunted.

Mia shook her head, before leaning with her elbow resting on the desk.

"She's taken a personal day."

Flack raised his eyebrows, awaiting further explanation.

"Didn't you two have plans last night?" Mia reminded him. "But maybe I'm wrong maybe you and the blond stick creature did instead."

Flack stepped into the office and shut the door. Within seconds he was leaning over Mia's desk, a furious expression on his face.

"What did you say to her?" Flack growled.

"I didn't have to say a damn thing." Mia said rising to her feet until her and Flack were standing up, the desk between them. "She saw you last night, is it any wonder that she wants the time to herself to think things over?"

"Keep your nose out of my shit, Auster." Flack snarled, pointing his finger at her.

"I'm not even remotely interested in your shit Flack. Its Sam I'm interested in and how she feels. You could drop dead for all I care." Mia snapped, slamming her hand down on the desk.

"I don't want you anywhere near Sam, you're a bad influence. I know about you Auster. I know about all the guys, the parties and I don't want you putting ideas in to Sam's head. You're a disgrace to the badge and it is only a matter of time until Mac sees that." Flack snarled.

Mia shook her head smirking.

"Sam's a big enough girl to make her own decisions and her own friends. You got a problem with that, talk to Sam about it, otherwise do me a favor and get the hell out of my office. I'm tired of listening to your bitching."

Flack fixed her with a solid stare before a cruel smile inched across his face.

"I finally get why Danny calls you the Ice Queen now." Flack sneered, stepping back towards the door to her office.

Before she knew it the pen had already left her hand and was hurtling through the air and striking Flack on the back of his head. Flack whirled around to face her, his expression one of complete surprise.

"What the fuck..."

"Call me it again, and they'll be finding your dead body somewhere in the Hudson." Mia said evenly, her nostrils flaring.

"What are you fucking five?" Flack spat before retreating through the door and into the Lab.

Mia took a deep breath trying to get a restraint on her anger. She couldn't believe that Danny had told him. She took another breath, in through the nose and out of the mouth. Calming breaths her therapist had said. She was so god damn mad. She couldn't believe Danny had told Flack that...

Her phone vibrated next to her. Mia bowed her head to check the call display. A text from Brett. She dropped into her seat, before reading it. He wanted another date, somewhere quieter this time, more private. In other words his bedroom.

Mia raised her eyes to the ceiling as if looking for an answer. Why the hell not? She thought before texting back a reply. She paused after pressing send, and recounted her conversation with Flack, it was probably a good idea give Sam a head's up too, just in case. She texted Sam quickly before snapping her phone shut and sliding it onto the desk.

Hopefully the both of them would end up having plans tonight.

Hey, I thought it was time to update! Thankies to my fab beta Sparky! Life has been insane at the mo, the bf is off to play with the milliatry for a month in May, and work is manic!

Also read her story a The War at Home, if you love Danny you'll love this!

The poll is still undecided so people cast your votes!

Spanky: lol I think it's easy to accept that people grow up and he is quite immature. lol Spark's will defiantly fly esp the way he finds out, but as we know Hawkes doesn't take any shit and neither does Sam. Thanks for the review.

HighQueen: lol is that the kinda shipper you are for this story?

Ax: lol I'm just glad your doing ok! lol I'll bite your work for you! lol he really is an ass but we love him anyway and I think it's important for you to see him develop. lol I love the whole Danny and Mia chem,it's always gonna be there, not mater what happens.

Maddy: lol she hates the women Flack dates, I'm glad you like this though and what going on.

BEG: lol well thankies your making me blush. lol I like the whole thing Sam and her have together. lol Sam's giving up on him now.

Hope: lol he will eventually!

Sparky: lol ew is all I can say to that. I'm glad you liked it. lol I'll pimp you out anytime!

Siperanatural: lol they are totally honest with each other and it doesn't end the way you think.