When Lindsay let herself into her apartment, she knew from the fact the lights were on that Danny was there.

"Hey." Danny said.

"Hey. Been here long?"

"A couple hours." Danny admitted.

"Right."

"Go anywhere nice?" He inquired.

"Stella and I went and saw a couple movies and then had hot chocolate." She paused. "Look Danny enough of the small talk. If you're still in a mood because I had lunch with your mother, a mood which according to Stella has been driving people crazy all day, you may as well just go home."

"I'm sorry." Danny said.

"What?"

"I'm sorry." He repeated.

"Okay I need to sit down." Danny moved over so she could sit down. "Do you want to start again?"

"You were right I was being a jerk."

"I didn't say you were a jerk." Lindsay pointed out.

"But you were thinking it."

"It's not 1984."

"What?" It was Danny's turn to be confused.

"1984, George Orwell, the thought police." Lindsay explained.

"Right." Danny said making the connection. "By the way I owe you some money."

"For what?"

"I called my mother."

"What prompted that?" Lindsay asked.

"When I got here and you weren't here I got thinking."

"Hopefully you didn't hurt yourself." Lindsay joked. Danny looked at her. "Sorry bad timing. What were you thinking about?"

"You know my mother loves you?" Danny asked. "She says when I invariably screw this up she knows a couple guys who don't have criminal records she'd like to set you up with. She also wants to send you a lasagne."

"Tell her I'll take the lasagne and we'll see on the other thing."

"That was reassuring."

"Danny, you're human you're allowed to screw up every once in a while. As long as you don't start smacking me around or cheating we can probably figure this out, if we want it to work, if you talk to me. I have no idea what's going on in your head unless you tell me. I don't know why the fact that I had lunch with your mother is a big deal unless you tell me. I know men like to do the whole brooding thing, but it's easier if you just talk about it."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay." Danny confirmed.

"So do you want to tell me what you were thinking and why you reacted the way you did?" Lindsay asked.

"I was a jerk."

"I think we covered that part, but it doesn't tell me why."

"Does it matter?" Danny asked.

"Yes." Lindsay stated.

"Are you hungry?" Danny inquired.

"I ate lots of popcorn and Reese's Pieces. I'm fine." Lindsay assured him. "Did Carrie tell you about her class?"

"She did." Danny was glad she gave him an out. "I'm proud of her."

"Family should be supportive of each other. I know you didn't have the more idealised childhood I had growing up in the city rather than the country, but some things shouldn't matter where you grew up."

"So I'm learning."

"Are you ready to tell me why it was such a big deal?" Lindsay asked.

"Getting mad about you having lunch with my mother wasn't about that but more about something else I realised and I wasn't sure how to deal with it."

"What was that?"

"I'm not sure how to say this." He admitted.

"Unless you're going to tell me you've been trying on my clothes, just say it." Lindsay hoped it would lighten the mood.

"Okay." He paused. "I love you."

TBC