A/N: Right, before you start about predictable story lines...not that you ever have to be fair...there's always some twists and turns in this! Anyway, thank YOU for the reviews, they were really fun tto read. I've sort of actually mentally finished this story and I know when I'm going to end it because I DO love it. But I can't drag it out.

However, I WILL consider a sequel... Language warning!

Enjoy.

Peyton silently looked at the empty gurney, she was thinking of things with Mac, she'd really wanted things to work and now...

"Hey" said Adam, he came into the so far silent morgue, holding a few sheets of stapled together paper

"Hello Adam" she said, trying to sound bright, when in reality she felt anything but "Have you got my tox reports for me?"

"Yeah" he nodded with a yawn "Sorry, didn't get much sleep"

"Oh you too?" she asked, accepting the sheets of paper from him "Yeah I had a lot on my mind too"

"Something like that" he said sleepily "Everything check out?"

She looked at the report "Yes. Looks like this was an accidental death after all. Oh, I heard about the fire at the Flack place. Is everything alright?"

Adam knowing she was asking because she was aware he was friends with Ronnie and not because she wanted any gossip, answered truthfully.

"Well Ronnie's staying with me for the night since they don't know how much damage has been done but I think it was just the one place that was on fire. It should all be cleared up tomorrow"

Peyton smiled at him "She is lucky to have a friend like you"

Adam smirked "I know. I tell her that everyday. Alright, I got work to do. See ya"

She smiled again as he left and wondered if perhaps it would have been better if she had been friends first with Mac.

George unrolled a dark purple blanket onto her couch, she shot a look at the wall clock and sighed, it was late and she was tired but a friend in need was a friend in need.

"Hey, you should have let me do that" said Don emerging from her shower, he was wearing her fluffy lilac towelling gown and managing the incredible feat of looking good in it

"That's really sexy" scoffed George when she looked at him

He patted his wet hair with a matching towel "Shut up"

She smirked "Sensitive are we detective?"

He smirked back "Don't make me bring up those Queen tee shirts you have"

She made a face "You're an ass"

They looked at each other for a few minutes, grinning as they were like everything was back to normal. Then George felt the weight of her engagement ring and scrunched up her features "So do you know when your apartment will be back to normal"

Don nodded "Probably by tomorrow, I wouldn't have normally asked y'know I just needed a place to stay"

Atticus bounded in from her bedroom over to Don and jumped about excitedly in front of the detective, Don crouched down to stroke the dog's head, she watched him with a small self indulgent smile, looking at the small beads of water dripping from his still wet hair, she wanted to kiss him. Which of course was a bad idea since she was engaged to another man.

"I'll be out of your hair by early morning" he said gazing up at her

"Yeah of course" she looked away "Well goodnight, I'm going to get some sleep"

Don stood up and scratched his hair "Unless you wanna watch some late night b-movies with me?"

She raised an eyebrow "Don't you have work tomorrow?"

He shrugged "I can't sleep anyway"

George bit her lip and in spite of her better judgement, decided to agree "Sure" she took a discerning look at him "You might want to get dressed first"

He chuckled "Oh yeah"

Ronnie stubbed out her cigarette on the pavement and stared at her watch "How long does an inspection take anyway?"

Danny smirked and took another puff from his cigarette "One to make sure your house doesn't catch on fire? A while I guess"

She rolled her eyes "They cleared my place and the only two that got caught in the blaze weren't that bad anyway"

"What about the faulty wiring they found?" he said pointedly

Knowing he was right, she chose to ignore him, glancing again at her watch before peering at him "You don't have to stick around y'know. This is all very boring"

Danny shrugged and stretched his hands above his heads "Yeah well I was waiting for your brother actually, but now I'm here..."

"If he didn't turn up two hours ago, I doubt he's coming now" said Ronnie she smiled at him "Thanks though, appreciate it"

He glanced at her "Is that a new hair colour? Suits you" he said lightly

She raked a hand self-consciously through her dark hair "Actually this is natural. Even D thought it was fake"

Danny continued to stare at her "Well its really...you look good"

Ronnie wiped her hands on her jeans and wondered how to respond to the comment but he moved on quickly, standing up and holding out a hand.

"Come on up. Lets get you something to eat"

She hesitantly gave him her hand as he pulled her up, he squeezed it for a second "You still like pizza?"

"Is the Pope Catholic?" she grinned and squeezed his hand back "You're paying"

Danny chuckled.

A Few Hours Earlier

Don raised his head only to bang it against something, opening his eyes blearily he realised that the 'something' had been George's head, he gazed down and was pleasantly surprised to find her asleep in his arms and for a brief moment he could pretend that nothing had gone wrong between them and when she inevitably woke up there wouldn't be any bad feeling between them.

He exhaled, his sister was right he needed to move on.

When George woke up that morning she was slightly confused as to why someone was interrupting her perfect dream just when it was getting interesting. She gave a slight start when the object of her dreams was staring her right back in the face.

"Flack!" she said quickly and tried to sit up straight but as she was basically in his lap this was no real improvement on her earlier position

"Hey" he said sleepily

She blushed and got unsteadily to her feet "Sorry about that" she said, shyly smoothing down her clothes "I get really clingy when I'm sleeping" she said jokily

He raised an eyebrow but didn't respond "I'm going to make a coffee. I'm supposed to meet Ronnie in a half hour" he stood up and stretched "You want anything?"

George looked thoughtful "Ice chips would be good"

He smirked faintly then headed over to the kitchen, quietly frustrated with their strange relationship he made a decision there and then that no matter what happened he was moving on. Sighing he rummaged around in the kitchen making his coffee and gathering a bowl of ice chips for George, as he waited for his coffee to boil, he remembered Atticus asleep at the foot of the TV.

"George? Where's the dog food?"

When he got no response he assumed she must not have heard him and peered around the kitchen door way "George?"

There was still no response, he furrowed his brow and headed into the lounge where something had gone very wrong, George was sat on the couch holding her stomach, she raised her head and looked at Don, her eyes wide and frightened.

"What's happened?" he asked and hurried over to the couch, sitting beside her

"I don't know...I think they're contractions" she said breathlessly

"But it's only been seven months" he said worriedly and placed his hand on her stomach, his eyes dark with concern "What do you want me to do?"

She winced and bit her lip "Can you call Dr. Romero, his number is on speed dial" she grabbed his hand "Just hurry"

He nodded quickly "You just breath slow and try to relax alright" he squeezed her hand tightly, staring at her briefly, his feelings communicated in that one look

She let out a slow breath "Okay"

He reluctantly let go of her hand and went over to the phone by the wall, pressing speed dial trying to ignore the panic rising in his chest.

Mac cleared his throat, he hated what he was about to do, especially since he wasn't quite sure why he was doing it but he knew that if he didn't end things with Peyton he was going to end up hurting her.

She re-emerged from the kitchen carrying her refilled glass of red wine she curled up next to him on the couch "What are you thinking of sweetheart?"

Her hand crept up the back of his neck and she kissed his cheek "Mac?"

He blinked and looked at her, she smiled back gently "Are you alright?"

Not knowing what to say he forced himself to look away "I have to tell you something"

She cupped his chin in her palm "What is it?"

He exhaled and met her eye which under the circumstances he thought was the least he could do "I thought that I was ready for this relationship and I'm not"

Her hand fell to her lap she gazed at him sadly "Is this about Claire?"

Mac shook his head "Partially but a lot of it is because...I'm in love with someone else. I've been in love with this person for a long time. I don't know if she feels the same way"

Peyton shifted in her seat, no longer looking at him "Then why were you with me? Please be honest Mac"

"I thought I could move on and forget about her but I can't" he admitted

She swallowed thickly "Who is she?"

He furrowed his brow "I don't think I should..."

"Is it Stella?"

His silence was all the answer she needed, she half smiled trying to hold back her tears "I always knew I'd be second best...I don't know why I was okay with that"

Mac shook his head "You deserve the best. I'm just sorry I can't be that person"

He glanced at her "Would you like me to go?"

"I think that would be best. Yes" finally she brought herself to look at him "Thanks for being honest"

He stood up "Thanks for understanding"

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears "Bye Mac"

As he left Mac hoped that he hadn't made a big mistake, if his feelings for Stella turned out to be wrong then he'd just lost a very special woman.

"Shit! I can't believe its raining like this" groaned Ronnie, she and Danny were stood sheltered in the door of a pizzeria watching the rain pour down

"Its New York" said Danny as if that explained everything, he scanned his watch "You wanna make a run for it?"

She scoffed "Have you seen my hair? It was not made for rain"

He smirked "Princess"

She made a face "Oh yeah?" then with a squeal she started to run down the street, Danny chuckled and hurried after her

She stopped under the door way of a pawn shop smirking once he caught up with her "You were saying?"

Danny held his hands up in the air "Alright, you're not a princess. I take that back" he looked at her, now soaking wet

"You know what you said about your hair?" he said pointedly

She ran her fingers through her wet hair, chuckling then gestured at his hair "You look like an extra froma very cheesy boy band photo shoot"

He pretended not to have heard her "You wanna wait it out?" he peered out

"Yeah alright"

They were silent for a few minutes, watching fellow New Yorkers run around trying to get out of the rain, after a while Ronnie spoke up.

"You know its rude to stare right?"

Danny smirked "I was just thinking, he ran a hand over his jaw

"About what?"

"Well you. You seeing someone?"

"Maybe" she said suddenly uncomfortable "Why?"

He raised an eyebrow "I'm just asking. You seem pretty happy right now, whoever he..." he smirked "or she is, they're good for you"

Ronnie smiled "Well. Thanks I think. What about you? Seeing anyone?"

Shaking his head he looked at her seriously "No"

She didn't seem convinced for some reason "Okay. Sure"

"What?"

"No, I just mean, I...I spoke to Lindsay she mentioned you two were getting close"

"Oh. So what that means we're seeing each other now?"

"Well you tell me, you're the one that asked her out"

Danny peered at her strangely "I didn't and so what if I did? Why is this always an issue?"

She forced a smile "You know what, I don't even know why I brought that up"

He continued to stare at her then exhaled "Alright fair enough. After all I said about me and Lindsay...that looks bad. But nothing happened. I was trying to be a friend and she misread my signals. I cleared it up with her and you can ask her if you want alright?"

Ronnie gazed down at her feet "I'm not gonna do that. It's none of my business"

He cleared his throat, deciding to change to subject "How's D? I heard things have been really heavy for him lately"

"He ain't heavy, he's my brother" she said lamely "I had to say that" then she started to laugh, he rolled his eyes trying not to join in but she'd always had an infectious laugh, pretty soon he was laughing along with her

The laughter eased the strange tension that had crept up suddenly just as the clouds were starting to clear.

"Hey, look. The rain is letting up. Ready?" she said

"Ready for what?" he said suspiciously

She grabbed him by the elbow and ran outside, giggling as they weaved in and out of the streets, finally they ended up at Ronnie's apartment where it was clear that the fire inspection had been long finished.

"Thanks for sticking around Messer" she said with a quick cheeky grin

He nodded "Hey, anytime"

He held out a hand and she took it, he hugged her tightly and knew in an instant what he still felt for her, she raised her head, giving him an odd smile.

"You can let go now"

He smiled "I don't think I want to"

Thinking he was joking she tried to wriggle away, laughing in spite of herself "Okay Danny, I'm dripping wet and I need to get inside before I get pneumonia as do you.."

He cut her off, kissing her straight on the lips and there and then it was as if nothing had changed. When he reluctantly stopped, she stared at him in shock and it was a few moments before either said anything.

Then she recovered but not in the way he had hoped.

Her eyes narrowed "You're such a fucking..."

He sighed "Ronnie, I know... I know now that you still feel something...I mean you can't deny that"

She glared at him and started to turn towards her building "You're an asshole Danny"

"Ronnie, come on. Wait"

She spun back angrily "I start thinking we can actually be friends after everything that's happened and this is how you act? You're a real fucking asshole"

He watched her storm away and although he wished he'd thought his actions through better but he knew that if he hadn't he would never have known that she still had feelings for him.