Note: Thank you for the reviews. They really do inspire me. This is a short chapter that further adds to our couple's angst.
Mariel: Thanks for your help.
Loozy: I'm pretty sure I thought of this before I heard about "Off the Tracks," but what I heard about the episode has certainly inspired me. I'm so looking forward to tomorrow's episode. I'm right there with you!
Anna was surprised when Danny got out of the cab and came up to her apartment. She'd expected him to tell her that he needed space after the confrontation at the wedding, but instead he followed her. He'd started to keep a few things there, so he was prepared to spend the night. It was still only early evening, but they both felt exhausted from the emotional day. Without saying much to each other, they undressed and got ready for bed.
Danny had thought about going to his place. He'd thought about shutting down and shutting her out, but he knew he couldn't do that anymore. Even though he was upset with her, he still wanted to be with her. So, he found himself lying next to her in bed. This was usually the time where he'd take her in his arms. He always held her close—even when they weren't going to have sex. But for some reason, he couldn't do it. There was a distance between them that he couldn't quite understand.
She eventually fell asleep next to him. She took solace in knowing that he'd stayed with her. She figured that she would just give him some space, and then talk to him again the next day.
In the middle of the night, she woke up suddenly to find that she'd naturally found her way into his arms while they'd slept. She looked up at him and studied his face. He looked so peaceful and beautiful, so different from the anger that that had been on his brow during and after the wedding. Without thinking, she ran her hands down his chest while she kissed his stomach. She had a sudden urge to be with him. She needed to feel close to him, and she needed to know that he still wanted her. She kissed a path up his chest until she reached his face. He opened his eyes sleepily as she hovered above him. When he parted his lips to say something to her, she kissed him. He was hesitant at first, not to mention still half asleep. But as she moved above him, he felt an urgency to be with her as well. Once again, instead of talking through their fight, they didn't talk at all. They just made love and didn't speak a word to each other during or after their encounter.
The next morning, Anna woke up to find a note on his pillow. The note said that he had to go into work and he would call her later.
As she lay in bed that morning, she thought about what had transpired the previous day and night. She knew that they needed to talk. They needed to work so many things out, but she wasn't sure where to begin. She'd thought it was a good sign that he'd come home with her after the wedding. And she'd felt that same connection with him as always when they'd had sex, but there was still so much unsaid between them. It was as if they both wanted the relationship to work so much that they were scared to deal with anything.
When Danny was called in to work on Sunday morning, he was almost relieved to not have to face Anna after their intense night together. Not that he wanted Mr. Phelps to be missing, but he was glad he was in the office working. He was even happier when Jack sent him and Martin to Boston to follow a lead involving Phelp's rumored mistress. He called Anna from the airport and left her a message saying that he'd call her when he got back to town.
During their short flight to Boston, they exhausted their discussion on the Phelp's case so Martin decided to change the subject.
"Didn't you mention once that Anna lived in Boston for a while?" he asked casually.
"Did I?" Danny replied in a confused tone.
"Yeah…I think it was when you first saw her during the Simpson case. You said you thought she was still in Boston."
"Good memory," Danny remarked with a puzzled smirk. "In fact, she did live in Boston for a while. She went to grad school there."
"So how's that going?" Martin asked continuing to sound casual but knowing that Danny didn't usually volunteer much about his personal life and relationships.
"How's what going?" he answered playing dumb.
"How are things with Anna?" Martin clarified.
Oh…well…it's going, I guess. I don't know," he replied rubbing his chin. "Relationships are hard."
Martin sighed. "Tell me about it. But if you believe in fate and destiny, then you would probably think you two are meant to be."
Danny gave him a perplexed look. "Is the altitude getting to you, man? I'm the one who usually gets freaked out in the air, not you."
Martin laughed. "I just think it's kind of amazing. I mean to find each other after all these years. It's kind of…cool. And being with her seems to have changed you."
"Changed me? She hasn't changed me. And you are kind of scaring me with this 'amazing' stuff," he responded putting the word 'amazing' in air quotes.
"She hasn't changed you? Danny, the last time we flew together, you ended up with three flight attendants' phones numbers out of a four person crew."
"That was extremely unusual, and I only asked one flight attendant for her number. The others just…I don't know," he replied with a sheepish smile. "And I gave you one of their numbers. I was covering all my bases," he answered jokingly.
Martin shook his head and smiled. "Well, today you've barely spoken to our flight attendant. You almost seemed to avoid her…"
"I am dating someone. So I'd be kind of jerk if I was still getting phone numbers, wouldn't I? I still wouldn't say she's changed me, but I do like being with her," he finally responded seriously.
"That's all I was trying to say."
He thought for a moment and then continued. "But it is hard. Being in a relationship and meshing your lives together. It seems especially hard for us," he volunteered letting his guard down.
"Why's that?"
"I don't know. I mean we have a complicated history—so there is that. But then we are also from two completely different worlds, and sometimes I just think there is too much to overcome."
"There must be something that's making you stay," Martin said as glanced in Danny's direction.
Danny looked down and studied his hands for a moment before responding. "I love her. And I hate the thought of being without her again."
As Danny made the statement, Martin couldn't help but notice that he was saying it more to himself than responding to him. So he didn't say anything else to Danny. They didn't talk again until they landed, and then they focused on the case.
Anna hadn't talked to Danny since he'd left her in bed. She'd received his message, but hadn't called him back. She usually didn't call him when he was on a case. Instead, she would wait until he called her so she didn't interrupt him. Her heart fluttered when she heard her phone ring at 6:45 on Monday morning. She knew it was him.
"Hey," she answered knowingly.
"Morning, baby," he replied. "How did you know it was me?"
"You're the only one who knows my schedule," she responded. She'd followed the same routine every weekday morning. Her alarm would go off at 6:30, and she would scurry to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee from her automatic coffee-maker. Then she would get back in bed to fully wake up with her first cup of coffee.
"If I'd been there, you wouldn't have had to get out of bed for your coffee" Or: "If I were there, you wouldn't need to get out of bed for your coffee."
"I know. You spoil me," she said remembering that Danny had always brought her coffee right before her alarm went off. "How's the case going?"
"It's going. Hopefully, we'll catch a break today."
"I missed you last night."
"I missed you, too. I actually can't stop thinking about you. Listen, when I get back…maybe we should talk about a few things."
Anna's heart sank. She couldn't respond right away.
When he didn't hear a response, he asked, "Babe…you still there?"
"Yeah," she replied trying not to let him know that she was crying. "What do we need to talk about?"
"We have some stuff that we haven't dealt with. We can't keep avoiding it."
"Maybe you're right," she replied.
He could tell that she was crying now. "We're going to be okay. We just need to work some things through."
"Right," she whispered.
"I gotta go. I'll call you when I am on my way back. I love you."
Anna smiled through her tears. "I love you."