7 o'clock had come and gone and so had the pot roast. Everyone – Mac, Danny, Stella and Flack – had been impressed by Lindsay's culinary skills. After dinner, Lindsay invited the group to stay, watch a hockey game and enjoy some freshly made brownies. Mac had excused himself, saying that he needed to go back to the lab and finish up some paperwork, but everyone else stayed.

Stella and Danny made themselves comfortable on the couch, turning on the hockey game, while Flack settled himself in the large, comfortable chair next to the coffee table. Lindsay was in the kitchen cutting and serving her freshly baked brownies.

"Flack, come help me!" Lindsay shouted from the kitchen.

"Huh? Why me?" Flack whined. He had just gotten comfortable and the game had just started.

"Because you were an idiot yesterday and so I'm picking you to help me." Lindsay said matter-of-factly.

Flack looked at Stella and Danny for help, but they both snickered and shook their heads. Sighing, Flack tore himself away from the game and walked into the kitchen. He paused a moment to take a good look at Lindsay. True to her word, she was wearing her apron, and she was right, it was definitely cute. Lindsay's green apron was doubled around her waist, making it fit snuggly, and on top of her black pants and black sweater it made Lindsay's eyes sparkle and skin seem tanner somehow – even in the middle of winter.

"Cute apron, Monroe." Flack said, idly pulling on one of the strings that secured it behind Lindsay's neck. Lindsay ducked away from Flack's reach as she felt the strings loosen.

"What are you trying to do…undress me in my own kitchen?" Lindsay joked as one hand snaked to the back of her neck to check the knot. "I'm glad you like it. It makes me feel all domestic." Lindsay smiled at Flack. He seemed to have forgotten about the hockey game and the fact that Lindsay tore him away from. Lindsay grabbed two plates of brownies and began walking out of the kitchen, smiling at Flack over her shoulder.

"Hey, grab those last two plates, will you?" Lindsay asked.

Flack dutifully picked up the remaining two plates of brownies and walked towards the living room. Just as he was about to hand one of his plates to Stella, he saw a rush of movement out of the corner of his eye. Flack snapped his head around just in time to see Lindsay hand Danny a plate of brownies and then use the speed of a cartoon animal with a sugar rush to bound into the chair that he had been sitting in.

"Hey!" Flack shouted, trying to look shocked and appalled. "That's my chair!" Flack walked over, bent down and was about to forcefully remove Lindsay from his chair, when Lindsay gloated over him.

"You snooze, you loose, Flack. The floor is very comfortable…. I suggest you try it." Lindsay shot back at him gleefully.

Flack sank into a heap with a groan on the floor in front of what was now Lindsay's chair and next to where Danny was sitting above him on the couch. Flack scowled and sank his teeth into his brownie, attempting to relieve some of his depression over losing his chair.

"I guess she told you." Danny taunted.

"Shut up." Flack snapped back, turning his attention to the hockey game. He swore he could still hear Stella and Lindsay still snickering at him in the background.


They had all made it through the first period of the hockey game and were about 6 minutes into the second. Everyone had settled in nicely. Danny had sunken down into the couch and sprawled his legs across the floor and around the coffee table. Stella was comfortable on the couch after she had claimed the majority of it for herself. Lindsay was twisted snuggly in her overstuffed chair with her legs tucked underneath her, while Flack had stolen some pillows from Danny and used them to make himself a comfortable mountain to prop himself up on.

Danny and Flack were enjoying the game as they yelled advice to the players. Stella and Lindsay were content just to watch, laugh at the guys and chat idly during commercial breaks. As the second period continued, Lindsay could feel the salt from the pot roast kick in and her mouth became parched.

"I'm going to go get something to drink. I'll be right back." Lindsay used her arms to gracefully push herself up out of her chair, step over Danny's and Flack's sprawling legs and walk to the kitchen.

"I'll come with you." Flack said. The words came out of his mouth quicker and louder than he had intended, causing some people to turn and look at him. Flack jumped up and was by Lindsay's side before she had taken more than two steps.

"I'm just going to the kitchen." Lindsay said as she walked. Flack was matching her step for step, walking quietly next to her.

"That's okay. I'll still come." Flack said. He felt like his voice and his feet were on auto-pilot, following Lindsay around her apartment.

Lindsay opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. She looked at Flack and smiled. He was standing just next to her, leaning against the counter. Lindsay opened her bottle as she began to turn to walk back to the game. When Flack started walking with her, Lindsay spun around to talk to him.

"Aren't you going to get something?" Lindsay questioned.

"Nah, I wasn't really thirsty." Flack said, a sheepish look creeping across his face.

"So, you got up and followed me into the kitchen just to do what? Protect me from the refrigerator?" Lindsay asked skeptically. She thought it was a little weird that Flack was following her around her apartment like a small, droopy-eared puppy dog.

"Yeah, uh, you never know what could jump out of those things." Flack said rather unconvincingly. He was trying his best to think on his feet and it wasn't going so well. To tell the truth, Flack hadn't really thought everything through when he decided to follow Lindsay into the kitchen. His mind had simply told his body to follow her and here he was. The smart thing to do would have been to grab a drink, but Flack just couldn't seem to get his "smarts" working when he was around Lindsay. It was beginning to aggravate him. "Yeah. Those things are dangerous."

"Remind me never to set foot in your kitchen." Lindsay said. She had closed the fridge and leaned against it slightly and brought her water bottle to her lips to take a drink. Flack took a step towards her and cocked his head to one side, not quite understanding Lindsay's reasoning. "I don't know what you keep in your refrigerator, but it must be something horrible if you're willing to leave a hockey game to protect me from my appliances."

"Just call me your knight in shining armor." Flack proclaimed, thrusting his chest out smugly – though just a bit, he didn't want to seem boastful.

"Cute." Lindsay replied, his statement had earned a huge smile that was being displayed across her face. "Sir Flack, Protector of Damsels from their Appliances…it has a good ring to it. I still think it's a little weird that you followed me in here, but hey, whatever toasts your bagel buddy."

Lindsay stepped forward so that she could return to the living room. Her movement brought her body within centimeters of Flack's, who hadn't moved from his place in front of her. Just as Lindsay was walking around Flack, she leaned in, her mouth almost brushing Flack's ear.

"I think it's sweet. Thanks for the protection, Sir Flack."

Flack was left alone in the kitchen as Lindsay walked away. He realized that if he made a run for it, he might be able to overtake Lindsay and get his chair back for the rest of the second period of the hockey game, but suddenly he didn't care about the chair. Unable to make his mind move his feet, Flack was left wondering why he had tensed up when Lindsay came so close and just exactly why he had felt the need to protect her from her own refrigerator in the first place.