Title: Forever Roses
Author: LadeeBear
Rating: K, K, K, and K.
Summary & Inspiration: I read Emily's (iluvroadrunner) story, which was a completely fluffy one about snow in NYC. So, in inspiration, I decided to write a story myself, with a different plot, but still completely DL fluff, and a good ol' heaping amount of – you guessed it – snow.
Disclaimer: I own the orphans in this story. Other than that, everything else belongs to other people.
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"Brave your storm with firm endeavor. Let your vain repinings go! Hopeful hearts will find forever roses underneath the snow."
George Cooper
Lindsay Monroe sighed and examined the view that was laid out before her. It was snowing. Maybe snowing was the understatement of the year – this was a full out blizzard. Taking another sip of her hot cocoa, the Montana native snuggled up under her thick cashmere blanket and continued to watch The Breakfast Club. There was no way that she was moving from that comfortable, warm position on her couch. Occasionally, Lindsay glanced up from the movie to watch the snow, which had steadily begun to become less threatening, and was now falling in soft flurries. And there, on the comfort of that very couch, Lindsay planned to spend the entire afternoon.
Or, so she thought.
Picking up the phone, she instantly regretted it.
"Montana, you up to anythin' this afternoon?"
Lindsay rolled her eyes at the sound of Danny Messer's voice filling her ears. He was like an annoying gnat that she wanted to swat away, yet…well, she didn't want to think about the yet part of her reasoning.
"I planned on staying in and watching movies. It's still snowing out, you know," she replied. Danny laughed on the other end.
"Jeez, Montana, it's not snowin' that bad out. A bunch o' the CSIs are goin' down to Central Park this afternoon. We're gonna play with some of the kids from the orphanage where Stella used to live."
Lindsay sighed. When you threw children into the mix – and orphans, nonetheless – there was no way that she could resist. "Sure, Danny, count me in," she said with a light sigh. Danny's voice sounded triumphant on the other end.
"Alright. See ya later Montana."
Lindsay looked at the phone in her hands and silently wondered what she had gotten herself into. She paused her movie and tidied up her apartment a little bit, trying to keep her thoughts from straying to close to the one person she couldn't get out of her head: Danny. Lindsay flopped back onto the couch and stared pensively out of the apartment window. Danny Messer was the kind of guy that you wouldn't expect to befriend in the city, especially if you were a country girl. He was smart, granted, but could often be quite cocky and egotistical. He was funny, compassionate, strong, handsome, charming –
Lindsay snapped herself away from her thoughts, and shook her head. Did she just create a stream of compliments for Messer? No, no, certainly it couldn't be true.
"Okay, well, all I have to do is come up with negative things about him," Lindsay said to herself out loud. She ticked off the cons of her colleague on her fingers. "Well, first off, he's egotistical – but I already said that. And he can be a jerk. But most of the time he's not too bad. And he can make me laugh and smile even when I feel like crying. And he's…wait a second. What am I doing?"
Lindsay shook her head, sandy brunette hair stinging her face. It wasn't making sense. She was supposed to be annoyed by the guy, and yet…oh, there was that yet again.
"Why can't I stop thinking of him?" she asked the ceiling. She made a threatening fist and shook it in the general direction of God. "So help me, you better have a good reason for this."
And with that, Lindsay began to assemble her jackets, sweaters, and scarves in an attempt to decide exactly what to wear.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Stella! I swear to – "
Smack.
Hawkes glared at Stella, and furiously wiped snow off of his face. Stella's action had invoked many cheers and hollers from the little orphan boys. One of them, Michael, yelled at Hawkes.
"Hey Mr. Sheldon, it looks like Miss Stella got you bad!"
Hawkes glared again at the little blonde boy. The latter merely smiled angelically and ran as Hawkes tried to chase him. Lindsay laughed from where she was seated on a snow-covered park bench. Stella threw her female companion a bright smile as she helped two young girls make snow angels. A bit further down from where Stella was, Flack was assisting some of the older children in building a snowman. Danny was building a fort with some adoring little girls. Lindsay couldn't help but smile in admiration as she watched him speak softly and tenderly to the small army of girls, teaching them how to pile the snow and form it into a fort.
"Ah, adoration from afar," one of the nuns said, interrupting Lindsay's thoughts. The CSI looked curiously over at the nun, who was smiling.
"Pardon me?"
The nun continued smiling at Lindsay. "You adore that man over there, don't you darling?" she asked, pointing a finger at where Danny was kneeling. Lindsay looked quickly from Danny towards the elderly nun.
"Oh, no, no," she said hastily, "he's just my friend."
"Just a friend?" the nun echoed, her voice full of disbelief, complete with eyebrows raised. "You seem much closer than that."
Lindsay felt her cheeks redden. "We're just – uh – good friends. That's all. He's my co-worker, I mean…"
"Oh, sweetie, I know what you mean."
"Not to be rude," Lindsay said, directly facing the woman, "but nuns aren't supposed to marry or date, right?"
The nun exhaled and stared off into the distance. "That doesn't mean I haven't ever loved."
"Love?" It was Lindsay's turn to echo now. "I never said I was…we're not even…he doesn't…I mean I don't…can't…"
The nun fixed her attention back at Lindsay, a bemused expression etched across her face, enhancing her wrinkles and creases. Lindsay looked at the woman, and simply sighed. Before she could say any more, a shout was heard from where the children were playing.
"Hey, Lindsay, come on over here and help me settle something please!" Stella yelled, a circle of children surrounding her, Flack, Hawkes, and Danny.
"Now, a snowball fight would be fair, yes, Flack, but it can't be female CSIs versus male CSIs. If you hadn't noticed, we're a tad bit outnumbered."
Lindsay studied the little children crowded at her feet and grinned slyly, whispering something to Stella. The older woman grinned back and nodded at her male companions. "Alright, we'll do it."
"You're seriously going to take all of us on in a snowball fight?" Hawkes asked incredulously.
"The woman has aim," Danny noted, with a smirk at Hawkes. Hawkes rolled his eyes and threw his hands defensively up in the air, before pointing a finger at Stella.
"You got lucky last time with that shot Stel, but you won't get lucky this time."
Stella shrugged with an angelic smile. "Sure, Sheldon, whatever you say."
"Okay, kids, do you want to see us beat the ladies?" Flack asked, addressing the fifteen children that were surrounding them. The children let out a cheer of approval, and Lindsay quickly spotted the oldest girl – Amanda – and whispered something in her ear. The orphan grinned and ushered the other children towards the bench where the nuns were seated. Lindsay stared at Danny with her hands on her hips, a playful grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. She adjusted her scarf quickly.
"You're goin' down Messer," she stated with confidence. Danny's blue eyes twinkled and he smiled at her.
"In your dreams Montana," he retorted, staring at his comrades.
"Alright, here are the ground rules," Hawkes began, rolling a snowball into his hands and placing it on the ground. "No throwing any snowballs before my call. No foul play, and we stop when I say so."
Everyone nodded and Stella and Lindsay began to roll up their ammunition, barely containing their laughter. The men had their backs to the bench, and thus couldn't see all of the children begin to roll up snowballs in their hands and store them on the ground.
"Okay, my count," Hawkes replied, picking up a snowball in his gloved hand, "One…" Flack picked up his snowball and smirked at Stella, "…two…" Lindsay grinned at Danny, who merely grinned right back and gestured at the snowball in his hands, "…three!"
Lindsay and Stella ducked, and listened to a chorus of "HEY!" from the men. The group of children had thrown – quite accurately – about two dozen snowballs at Danny, Flack, and Hawkes. Stella and Lindsay were doubled over with laughter, as the men glared at the pair of women.
"Oh, you want war?" Hawkes asked, rolling up more snowballs. "You got a war!"
Amanda cupped her hands over her mouth like a megaphone and yelled: "Lyle, Karen, and Tony – you take Mr. Danny! Chloe, Jake, Darren, and Phoebe – you take Flack! Everyone else, go after Hawkes!"
The children ran around the park, tossing snowballs at the male CSIs, and the males tossed them right back. Lindsay and Stella high-fived each other and looked at the scene unfolding before them. The kids were laughing hard, and Stella smiled, her eyes watering slightly. Lindsay looked at her with admiration. Stella had been through so much in her lifetime, and yet she was still in one piece.
"Miss Lindsay, quick – duck!" Chloe screamed in her high-pitched little voice. Lindsay flung herself on the ground just in time to avoid a large snowball. Stella was soon crouched down next to her, muttering Greek curse words under her breath. Lindsay yelled over the children's voices.
"Danny Messer!"
Lindsay got up from her position on the ground and glared at Danny, who was smirking in a self-satisfied way.
"Yes, Miss Monroe, what can I assist you with?" he asked cockily. Lindsay turned around behind her and faced about half a dozen girls.
"You know what to do," she said with a smile. The girls nodded and rushed at Danny, pummeling him with snow. Danny picked up one of the small girls and she squealed. Danny then proceeded to whisper something to her, and the little girl laughed. He put the girl firmly back onto the snow and she changed course – this time, rushing at Lindsay with snowballs. Lindsay yelped as snow hit the side of her face.
"THAT'S NOT FAIR MESSER!" Lindsay yelled angrily, wiping the dripping snow from her cheek. Danny grinned and sent a small army of boys toting snowballs in the direction of Lindsay.
Lindsay held her hands up, attempting to shield herself from the snow that was pelting her. "Kids, go and get Danny – please," she begged them. Amanda noted Lindsay's irritation with the kids turning on her, and stated firmly to everyone: "Go. Get the boys."
Lindsay shook snow from her hair and smiled appreciatively at Amanda. The pre-teenager smiled back and replied: "I think you should go and attack Danny while he's vulnerable," she said with the air of a commander of an army. Lindsay threw the girl an smile over her shoulder and proceeded towards Danny, tossing a snowball up and down in her hand.
Danny immediately picked up a girl with blonde ringlet curls and held her up in defense. "You wouldn't hit a guy who was holdin' an innocent little girl, would ya Montana?"
Lindsay thought for a moment. "No, I suppose not," she said dejectedly. Danny stared at his colleague and placed Phoebe down onto the ground. "But," Lindsay continued, approaching Danny with a sinister grin, "I would throw a snowball at you!"
Lindsay rushed at her friend and threw a snowball at him, while Danny attempted to defend himself. "Hey – Montana – can – ya – quit – throwing – for – one – second?" Danny asked, in between breaths. Lindsay stopped throwing at him and shrugged.
"Sure," she agreed. "What do you need to say?"
Danny had a mischievous twinkle in his brilliantly blue eyes and he took a few steps towards Lindsay, whose eyes widened. "Oh, I don't need to say anythin' Montana," he began, still taking steps towards her. "I just need to do this."
With his last word, Danny grabbed Lindsay around the waist and picked her up. Lindsay let out a squeal and all of the little kids turned around to see what had happened.
"Danny Messer! PUT ME DOWN!" she yelled at him.
"Danny, what the heck are you doin' to Lindsay?" Flack asked with curiosity. Danny continued walking with Lindsay in his grasp and little kids trailed behind him. Lindsay's eyes widened further as she saw that he was approaching a deep pile of snow.
"Danny, if you throw me into that, I swear to God I will –"
"Hey guys! Get Danny!" Amanda yelled once more, and the kids who had been trailing Danny grabbed his legs.
"Hey! Hey now! Stop it! You're gonna make me –"
They fell. Lindsay was first as she tumbled out of Danny's grasp and into the soft pile of snow. She landed on her back, somehow, and looked up just in time to see Danny fall down on top of her. His arms landed just above her shoulders, pinning her down. When she looked up, Lindsay was thankful to see that Danny had not fallen directly on top of her, but had somehow managed to fall on his knees, which were – at the current moment – positioned on either side of her legs. With Danny practically straddling her, and the impact of the fall, Lindsay was finding it difficult to breathe. But she knew it was due more to the former, rather than the latter. She could see snow clinging to Danny's short hair and melted snow glistened on his facial features. She was breathing hard, and couldn't seem to detach herself from the power of his blue eyes. Danny wasn't moving either, and when he did, in fact, finally decide to move a little bit, it was to brush some snow out of Lindsay's hair. Danny's hand rested on Lindsay's cheek for a moment and they held each other's gaze. And, as if it had been happening in slow motion, Lindsay felt Danny's face begin to lower towards her own. Her heart was beating faster and she could see the individual snowflakes clinging to his eyelashes…
Smack.
Danny abruptly lifted his head up and brushed the snowball from his hair. Darren grinned from where he was standing with all of the other children and a very amused party of CSIs.
Danny hastily got to his feet and extended his hand so that Lindsay could get up as well. The two CSIs cleared their throats simultaneously and Stella's mouth twitched with pleasure as she looked at her two flustered co-workers. She then turned towards the group of children.
"I think that's all for today guys and girls. We'll be back later on this week, I swear," Stella vowed, making a cross over her heart. The children clapped their gloved hands with glee and thanked all of the adults for playing with them. Lindsay walked towards the bench to gather the rest of her belongings and the nun she had talked to earlier looked at her with a knowing grin on her face.
"Just a friend?" she asked again, eyebrows raised dramatically. Lindsay licked her lips at the memory of what-almost-was and rolled her eyes, passing the woman.
"Shut up Sister," she said over her shoulder.
The nun laughed and looked down at the ground, only to find a satin rose in the snow. She picked it up and looked up towards Heaven, with a smile.
"Forever roses underneath the snow," the woman recited softly. The sun shone in the afternoon sky and the nun placed the rose on the bench she had just been sitting on. She pulled out a locket and stared at the picture of the man inside of it, before looking back towards Heaven. "Thank you."
And thus, the end! I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! So, if you'd be so kind as to review, that would make my day!