Re-Edited to fix spelling and grammar mistakes: 11.02.07.
(Disclaimer in first chapter)
Just a few things:
First I'd like to thank mj0621, you are a inspiration to me and I love everything you write so it means a lot that you enjoy mine xo
all the glitters, you are also one of my favorite authors so thank you.
Thanks to:
Pepite, Mrs. Fitzgerald, Chelliyah, GinaJas, Chiianna, ddddyamite, john-cenawordlife, KatKnits00, chili-peppers.
And anyone in advance for your wonderful comments. Thank you soooooo much, I wasn't going to post this until it was longer but ya'll inspired another chapter:D
I don't think this one is as good or funny so sorry if it isn't my humor seems to have left me temporarily :) I wasn't sure about anything happening with Stella & Mac yet, but I got impatient and wrote it anyway.
Well on with...
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:::Chapter 2.
This Country Girl Doesn't Do Rain.
By: Lila Wills.
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Considering the sudden September downfall of rain, the local NYPD hangout 'Marty's Bar' was surprisingly empty.
Don, Stella, Sheldon and Sid were sitting at the bar chatting about the day's events.
"You do this job for so long.. you'd think you would get used to it," Stella said while taking a sip of her beer. She and Sheldon had worked a case involving a 6yr old boy who was killed by his psychotic father.
"Hmm," Sheldon responded, followed by mummers of agreement from Don and Sid.
Looking at his watch Sid drank the last of his beer. "I've got to go, I'm meeting someone and I don't want to be late," he said as he stood up.
"Hot date?" Don enquired.
"Sister from out of town."
"Ah." Don nodded while staring at his beer.
Sid put some money on the bar and walked to the door. "See you tomorrow," he said before heading out the door.
"Bye." The three said in union.
After sitting there in silence, Stella looked at her watch. "Where is he?" She said in annoyed tone and sighed.
"Probably locked himself in his office with his paper work," Sheldon commented, which received chuckles from his fellow CSI's.
"Or he's with that A.D.A," Don speculated.
"She went to Miami on a case," Stella stated.
After a couple more minutes of silence the bar door opened and in walked Danny who happened to be dripping wet.
Walking over to the bar he greeted his coworkers. "Hey guys." Stella, Don and Sheldon turned around.
"What are you doing here?" Sheldon asked while moving over so Danny could take a seat in-between him and Stella.
"Yeah, I thought you were helping Lindsay with her packing," Stella agreed.
"I was, but then it started to bucket down. Then Lindsay and Mac got called to a murder in the east village," Danny replied while waving the bartender over and ordering a drink.
"So that's where Mac disappeared to." Stella rolled her eyes at the actions of her partner. /He is always working, he needs to get out more./
"What's this about Lindsay?...is she moving?" Don asked looking a bit like a kid who hadn't been let in on a secret.
"She lost her apartment," Sheldon answered.
"Why?"
"Some big company bought the building and are evicting everyone," Danny replied.
Don rolled his eyes, "I hate rich people." They all laughed.
"So, she is staying with Danny," Stella finished.
"Temporarily," Danny corrected trying not to sound disappointed. Then he drank half of his beer all at once---putting the bottle down he let out a deep breath.
"With you?" Don asked, he was now finding it quite amusing.
"Yeah," Danny answered when his phone started ringing to the tune of Maroon 5's 'She will be loved'.
Don smiled to himself, Stella and Sheldon laughed.
Looking at them Danny asked, "What?" Luckily they didn't know he only had that ring tone set for Lindsay.
His response only caused them to laugh more, shaking his head he answered the phone. "Messer."
The voice on the other end sounded slightly annoyed. "Just because I'm a country girl dose not mean I like rain."
Danny could hear rain pouring in the background. "Montana?" He said as he walked away from the bar.
Don motioned his head toward Danny, Stella nodded as a reply and they smiled.
Leaning over the counter towards Stella and Don, Sheldon said, "I should get going. I have to get into the lab early because we have a new lab-tech starting tomorrow and no-one else can show them everything; and I want to get at least a few hours of sleep." He had been working a lot of doubles since the end of last week.
"Okay. Drive safe now, bad weather out there," Stella advised as she pointed her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of outside.
"Yeah, I will." Sheldon smiled, pulled out some notes and put them on the bar as he said his goodbyes to the others.
He waved to Danny signaling that he was leaving, Danny waved and went back to his conversation on the phone.
Sheldon opened the door which let in a cold gust of wind and he was gone.
Shivering slightly Stella turned to Don and remarked, "Looks like we are getting this years missing april showers."
Don smiled, "Yeah better late then never."
"Hmm." Was Stella's response, annoyance obvious in her voice.
Just then Danny closed his phone, came over and sat back down.
"What did the girlfriend want?" Don smirked.
Danny glared at him but decided to let the 'girlfriend' comment slide, Stella noticed. Why Danny did..even he didn't know.
Danny looked at his watch and answered Don's question, "I left her standing outside my apartment. Before she left to go to the crime scene we agreed that she would do her packing tomorrow since we are both on call. And that we'd meet at mine after she was done at the lab..." he said while finishing his beer.
"And your still here, why?" Don asked his friend.
"Uh---right." Danny put some money on the bar counter. "I'll see you guys at the lab," he said as he put his jacket on.
"Yeah, bye," Stella replied as she watched Danny rush out the door. She shook her head, smiled and took the last sip of her beer.
"Those two are so clueless aren't they," she said.
"Uh-Huh. A bit like you and Mac, eh?" Don remarked while he leant his elbow on the side of the bar.
Stella almost spit out her mouthful of beer. "Wh-what?" She looked at Don in shock.
"You... and... Mac," he repeated.
"Huh?" Stella was still trying to recover from what Don had said.
/Me and Mac?... As in me and Mac?... Don's crazy...or is he- No! Stella don't. 'Or' is not an option./
"Danny told me about you two holding hands."
"But-" She was mentally yelling at herself for stammering like a thirteen year old girl trying to conceal her crush on a boy. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't bring herself to deny it.
"Your feelings aren't one-sided you know that right?"
"Uh- I got to go..." Stella knew it was a lame excuse but she couldn't think of anything else to say.
/A nice hot bath should get rid of my sudden worrying...Hmm, me and Mac... oh god did I just think about me being with Mac?!... Mac Taylor?! My friend, my partner... I'm so screwed./
"Okay, if you say so," Don replied, he was not convinced but he knew that Stella was as stubborn as-- funnily enough, as stubborn as Mac.
"Bye," she said over her shoulder and headed out the door.
Don was left smiling to himself. /Danny and Lindsay, Mac and Stella... and I have who to go home to?... no-one./
He decided to wallow in self-pity, so he waved the bartender over and ordered another beer.
"Bad day?" The bartender asked. His name tag on his shirt read 'Richie', he placed the drink in-front of Don.
"No, nothing worse than it normally is," Don replied and started drinking his beer when his cell rang.
"Flack." He answered. Then after a few 'Okay's and 'Uh-Huh's, he hung up and placed some money next to his unfinished beer.
"Well, I hope tomorrow is a better day Detective," Richie the bartender said.
"Thanks," Don replied while waving over his shoulder and opening the bar door.
/At-lease it has stopped raining...arrgg spoke to soon./
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(Outside Danny's Apartment.)
/Great just great, I'm cold, I'm soaking wet and I'm staying with Danny... just lovely./
Just as Lindsay was contemplating getting a cab back to the lab, Danny's car pulled up in front of her. Danny looked at the wet and grumpy Lindsay and couldn't help but smile at how pretty she looked, even like that.
Getting out of the car, he walked up to her. "Fancy meeting you here," he smiled.
"Was that supposed to be a joke?" She asked slightly annoyed, "If you don't open that door right now, I will kill you and I know how to hide the evidence... so don't tempt me," she said staring right at him.
"Okay, okay." He put his hands up in surrender and opened the door.
"Thank you," she mumbled, getting a little nervous at how she had just snapped at him.
"Here, let me take your coat. If you don't get out of these wet clothes you are going to get a cold; and then no-one will be happy," he said while he helped he with her jacket.
"Thanks." She started to blush at how polite and caring he was being.
"No problem. Bathroom's down the hall first door to your left," he said pointing in that direction.
"Uh- thanks." /Ah... well 'thanks' is all I can say isn't it./
"It's okay... really. Do you want something to drink?" He asked her as she turned off down the hallway.
"You got any tequila?" She asked, then laughed when she saw Danny's jaw hit the floor.
He smiled realizing that she was joking, and decided to play along. "No but I can go and get some." He was now grinning.
"Coffee will do." She laughed to cover up the fact that she had turned pink.
/I'm standing in Danny's apartment in front of him in wet clothes! uh.../
/Why does she have to be wearing wet clothes... hmm. Oh no, she knows I'm staring./
"Enjoying the view Messer?" Lindsay took the opportunity to make him blush.
"Uh-- I-- was...coffee black two sugars right?" He muttered to the floor.
"Yeah," Lindsay replied. Then as she headed down the hallway she called: "Thanks cowboy."
He smiled to himself and walked of to the kitchen. A couple of minutes Lindsay came into the living room in a dry t-shirt and jeans and sat on the sofa, whilst looking around the apartment.
/Mmm it's not as 'Bachelor Pad'-like as I thought, it's actually pretty nice./
"Here you go," Danny said coming up next to her and handing her a mug.
"Thanks." She laughed at how many times she had thanked him, as she took the mug from him.
"You know... you are the most polite person I have ever met; and thats a lot of people," Danny said as he sat down next to her.
"My mom was very strict about mannersshe wanted me to be a debutante," she replied as she tucked her legs under her and leant back.
"You? A debutante?, Now thats something I would want to see."
"Would you now?" She asked him, then took a sip of her coffee.
"Well you know... sure...I mean-" he stopped talking and smiled, since when had he been nervous around women?, Lindsay smiled at him.
He turned toward her. "Uh, so what do you want to do? I've got a good collection of movies... and I can order take-out."
"How about, I trust you to pick the movie. And I get the take-out since I kinda owe you it anyway," Lindsay suggested.
"I left you standing in the rain for half an hour--- I'll buy the food," Danny said as he got up.
"Okay... wow, who knew. Danny Messer a gentleman," she chuckled and looked up at him.
"I have my moments. Besides, how can I not around you?" Realizing what he had just said he rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the floor.
"Well... are you gonna stand there all night? Or are you gonna get something to eat, I'm starving," she asked with a big smile coming on her face.
"You got it, Montana," he said with his own smile and walked off into the kitchen.
Lindsay put her mug down on the coffee table and went over to the bookcase where Danny had about six lines of DVD's mostly action or comedy.
"Men," she muttered to herself and started looking over the titles.
Danny came back in and leant on the door frame watching Lindsay who was hunched down putting a dvd into the dvd player. He smiled. This he could get used to... just him and Lindsay.
"So what did you decide on?" He asked when she had stood up.
"Lord of the Rings, cause I've only seen the first one," she said moving back over to the sofa.
"Sure it's not to scary for you, Monroe?" He grinned and took his seat next to her again.
"You underestimate me, Messer," she grinned right back at him.
"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied and turned his attention to the TV as the open sequence rolled onto the screen.
"This is nice. To be honest I'm surprised," she said while looking at the TV.
"I'm not," he replied, his gaze still on the screen.
"You're so full of yourself," she said throwing a pillow at him.
"Hey!" He said throwing one right back at her, she giggled.
"You don't want to do that Messer. I grew up with three brothers and you will so lose," she warned, looking at him with a glint in her eye.
"Wanna bet?" He dared her, raising his eyebrows.
"You should never bet against something you can't win," she smirked at him.
"Maybe we should test that theory."
She was just about to trow another pillow when the door bell rang.
"This isn't over cowboy!" She said as Danny made his way to the door.
"You have no idea, Montana," he called back over his shoulder.
Her eyes widened at his comment and she felt herself get very hot for some reason.
Just as she was silently freaking out, Danny came in with plastic bags in his hands.
"The lady ordered Italian," he said, using an italian accent which caused Lindsay to burst out laughing. Maybe it was the lack of sleep.
"What?" He asked at her sudden fit of giggles.
"N-nothing," she said through giggles and put her hand over her face.
"You're something else, Montana." Shaking his head he passed her one of the bags. "Here you go."
Calming herself a little she took the bag, their hands touched slightly for a second.
"Thanks," she replied as she took out the containers.
They sat there all night talking, eating. Half.. watching the movie, half.. staring at each other when the other wasn't looking.
When the end of the movie was finished, both Danny and Lindsay had fallen asleep. Lindsay's head leaning on Danny's shoulder.
Danny was in-fact wide awake, his eyes were closed and he was enjoying the moment. He was so close to her he could smell her shampoo 'Lavender and Vanilla.'
He smiled when she moved slightly closer to him in her sleep, but as much as Danny liked how he was, he knew how uncomfortable the couch was to sleep on. And they both had a lot to do tomorrow before they were called into work.
So carefully he lifted her head off his shoulder and stood up, looking at the sleeping form of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Deciding against waking up his partner, he quietly lifted her up. She instantly put her arms around his neck and snuggled into him. Shaking those sort of thoughts out of his head he made his way down the hallway, opened the guest-room door, and placed her on the bed. Lindsay moved over and pulled her legs in.
Danny got the blanket from the end of the bed and put it over her. He leaned down and whispered quietly in her ear, "Good-night, Lindsay." And went out and closed the door behind him.
Lindsay had her eyes closed but she had heard him.
/Maybe staying with Danny isn't going to be as bad as I thought. It may even be great./
She smiled as she drifted off to sleep.
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Stella decided she couldn't sleep. And she knew that Mac was most definitely still in his office.
Caring two bags of chinese take-out, she stepped out of the lift and started walking through the empty and dark lab. As she neared Mac's office she stopped to look at the view in-front of her: With his desk lamp on, Mac had piles of paperwork around him, his suit jacket and tie lay on the edge of his chair and he had his head in a folder. She smiled and knocked on the door.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Mac looked up and for the second time that day there stood Stella. He smiled and she smiled back. He waved her in, she sat down on the sofa and put the bags of takeout on his coffee table.
"I thought you'd be hungry," she said as she took out the food.
"Thanks." He smiled at her, somehow she always knew how to loosen him up and get him to stop thinking about work even without him saying anything.
Stella got up, closed the files that were in-front of him and took his hand; leading him to the sofa she sat him down and handed him a takeout box.
"You didn't have to do this. You should get some sleep for tomorrow," he said as he opened his container and looked inside.
"Shut-up and eat," she ordered as she handed him some chopsticks. They both laughed.
"I know it's none of my business, but how is it going with Marianne?" Stella asked while sitting down next to him and opening her own container.
"It is your business, you're my best friend and partner," he told her with a smile and paused before continuing, ".. It's going okay. It isn't really that serious, we've only been dating a week and a half. She is lovely, sweet, gentle---and an amazing person but-"
He stared into his food as if his chou main and tofu would magically give him the words he was looking for.
"She's not Claire." It wasn't the food but Stella that said it for him, he looked over at her.
He had never understood why she had stayed with him for so long but the fact that even now she knew exactly what to say warmed his heart.
"I don't know," he replied as he put his container down and dropped his head into his hands.
Stella put her own food beside his and moved over to him. "You will get through this," she said as she rubbed his back, he looked up at her and smiled.
"Thank you." Was all he could say.
Then he did something that he would only do if she had first, he pulled her into a hug. For some reason he felt she needed it more than he did.
At first she was surprised at Mac's forwardness, normally he was too polite to go ahead without asking, but she relaxed and was grateful for his kindness. Then something came into her head, or more like someone... all she could hear was Don's voice saying: 'You and Mac.'
She stiffened up a little which Mac felt, he pulled back worried he had made her uncomfortable.
"You okay?" He asked concern in his frown.
"Uh-- yeah," she answered, reassuring herself more than him. She then started to feel the heat rise in her cheeks and hoped Mac hadn't noticed, he did.
"Uh-" He didn't know what to say. A million things were running through his mind at once. They had flirted before, but this closeness was different, his feelings were different. He felt himself get very nervous so he stared at his hands and said, "Sorry... I shouldn't of..." Stella smiled at how cute his nervousness was.
Without thinking Stella placed her hand on his cheek, Mac looked up into her eyes.
They both felt something that neither one had felt, a feeling so strong that everything around them vanished. Then as if someone else were in control of his mind he leaned in and kissed her so lightly that Stella felt that it was almost half air.
/Mac Taylor..Ever the polite.../
Putting her hands around his neck she pushed her lips slightly more onto his, the electricity they were feeling was so strong that Mac forgot all about being nervous and placed his hands on her hips to pull her in toward him. The kiss deepened with what Stella could only describe as... Love and maybe a bit of lust but at that point it didn't really matter.
After what seemed like hours when in reality it was only minutes they pulled back and Stella saw something different in his eyes that she had never seen before.
/What is it?... guilt, worry, need, or no it can't be. Yes it is---Mac loves me./
"Well..." Was all she could manage to get out without mumbling.
"Yeah." He smiled and ran his hands through his hair, a nervous habit that Stella knew so she decided.. /Wow, who knew that making decisions could be so easy./
She decided to just come out and say it... "I think I'm in love with you." She copied Mac's actions from before and looked at her hands, as she waited for a reply.
"Well...I- I don't think, I know I love you." He smiled when she lifted her head, her jaw fell open and closed again.
"Um... you know if you want, we can forget this even happened and just go back to normal," Stella said, her insecurities getting the best of her.
Instead of replying Mac moved in and kissed her again this time in a more passionate way.
Just as they were moving down onto the sofa Mac's cell went off. They broke apart and sat up. Mac smiled at Stella.
"So..." he said, his cell still ringing.
"Well go on answer it, I'm not going anywhere," she smiled back.
"I'm glad," he replied before answering the phone, while Stella started cleaning up their takeout boxes.
"Taylor. Okay---be there in fifteen minutes." He hung up and looked over at Stella who was tidying his desk, he didn't comment on it, because to be honest he liked it.
"Someone found a DOA in an ally just off west Houston and sixth. You want to come?" Mac asked as he moved over to his desk, stood in-front of Stella and grabbed his jacket from the chair behind her.
"Okay. No point going home now," she said looking at her watch which read 02:00 am.
"I meant what I said before," he said taking her hands in his.
"I know, so did I." She leant in and gave him a quick kiss like she had be doing it forever.
He gave her a warm smile and they walked to his office door.
"Ladies first..." he said holding the door open for her.
"That's fine with me," she said, and walked through the doorway.
Mac gave a small chuckle and followed her down the hallway where she was waiting for the lift.
/If I didn't know I was going to get through this, I do now./
"So does this mean I don't have to buy you lunch now?" He asked as they got into the lift.
"You're not getting out of it that easy," she said putting her hands around his waist and leaning her chin on his chest, looking up at him.
"How about we go out for dinner tomorrow night instead?" He asked tucking a loose curl behind her ear.
"Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner," she grinned up at him.
"Looks like we are going to be spending a lot of time together doesn't it," he said taking her hand as they walked out the main doors where the weather had cleared up and the sky was now a deep navy blue.
"Yes it does," she agreed, moving closer to him as they walked to the car.
/And I wouldn't have it any other way./
/If someone had told me today I would tell Stella that I love her and she would tell me she loved me...I would have thrown them into a holding cell. If life is this randomly amazing then my life is complete./
T.B.C
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Read & Review, as always I love to hear what you think :)
Lila xo