Lindsay spent the best part of the morning deciding what to wear for her day out with Danny. She didn't want to look like she was making an effort or show too much skin, but the heat wave showed no sign of letting up. She had finally decided on a pair of denim cut-offs, a green tank top and flip flops. She wasn't really sure why she was so nervous, it wasn't like she and Danny hadn't spoken recently.

Danny waited for her at the entrance to the zoo; he had been awake most of the night. He had swung between nervous and excited a hundred times. When he saw her coming he drew in a deep breathe, she looked amazing. Danny wasn't used to seeing her wear so little in public but his Montana was a practical woman, and the heat wave called for an outfit like that. She looked so sexy with her wavy hair in a loose pony tail, her sunglasses obscuring her eyes and a thin sheen of sweat already coating her body.

As Lindsay caught sight of Danny she had to suppress a groan, he knew what it did to her when he wore those T-shirts, and she was quite sure it was deliberate. He had on a pair of loose fitting jeans, slung low on his hips. His white T-shirt was so tight it clung to his abs. He wasn't wearing his usual wife beater underneath and she could see the outline of his dog tags on his chest. She had spent a lot of time playing with those tags, curled up on his chest after making love. It had been her favourite place in the world.

She quickly snapped out of her haze and was immediately angry with herself for these thoughts. This was the guy who had cheated on her and she would not think about him like that anymore.

He smiled widely as she approached.

'Hey, thanks for coming, I'm really glad we're doing this Lindsay.'

She smiled back, 'No problem, I love the zoo.'

One of the advantages of wearing sunglasses was that she didn't have to look him in the eyes, and he couldn't see in to hers. She was sure today was going to be difficult given their history with this place.

'We should go in, it'll probably get real busy later,' she said and started walking towards the gate.

He followed behind her as they entered the zoo and grabbed a map on the way. He had only ever been here once and that hadn't been for a day trip.

'So, we have two directions we can go, the first starts with the reptile house or we could go by the elephants. What do you think?' He asked as he studied the map.

'How about we start with the reptile house? I need to get out of the sun for a bit.'

He gladly followed. They spent the next ten minutes making small talk as they looked at the various reptiles.

'Hey Montana, you gotta check this out, this is the biggest snake I've ever seen,' he beckoned her over.

'Erm, it's OK, I think I'll stick with the lizards Danny.'



'What? You can't come to the reptile house and not see the snakes, don't be crazy.' He grabbed her hand and pulled her along to the window.

She wasn't sure if it was feeling his hand against hers or the sight of the seven foot snake that did it but she was suddenly terrified.

'Let go Danny, I said I didn't want to see it!' she shouted.

'Hey, Lindsay I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were scared of snakes' he apologised profusely.

Lindsay started heading towards the exit of the reptile house and he was walking beside her.

'I wasn't until recently.'

It suddenly dawned on Danny where this had come from. 'Oh shit, I'm sorry, I forgot you got bitten last year.'

'Yeah, it was a pretty crappy year all in all' she laughed, then grew serious 'this year's not shaping up to be much better.'

They were now back outside and heading towards the monkeys. Danny looked down at his feet in shame.

He grabbed her hand and turned her around to face him. 'I'm gonna do whatever I can to make it better. I know how bad I hurt you but I am gonna prove to you how much you mean to me.'

She took her hand away from his and looked at the ground. 'Let's just not talk about it today, OK?'

'OK.'

They spent the rest of the day watching the animals, talking occasionally. Not about anything important, they deliberately kept the conversation light. He hated it, they had always been able to talk about anything, joke about anything. Now they were reduced to polite chit chat. As they approached the Tiger enclosure he decided now was as good a time as any to talk.

'Hey, let's sit on the bench and have an ice cream,' he suggested. She was looking hotter than ever, in more ways than one. She had beads of sweat dripping down her chest and her nose and forehead were starting to look a little pink.

'Sure' she agreed and went to sit on the bench while Danny went to grab a couple of ice creams for them. As he passed the gift shop he decided to pick up something else for her as well. He returned with two ice cream cones and a cap for Lindsay, to shield her face from the sun.

'Here' he handed her the ice cream and the hat, 'put this on or you're going to burn.'

'You've got to be kidding me' he smiled as she looked at the hat. It was animal print and had the word 'Easy Tiger' printed across the front.

'Put it on Montana, I won't be responsible for your third degree burns,' he admonished with a small smirk.



She sat the hat on her head and took a lick of her ice cream. It was just what she needed to try to cool down.

As they watched the tiger in front of them Lindsay startled him by asking a question.

'Do you think it's the same tiger?'

'I don't know Montana, you got closer than me, what do you think?'

'I think it might be.'

Danny got wistful for a moment. 'That was a really great day wasn't it?'

She looked at him in surprise. 'Danny, I spent that day sifting through twenty pounds of Tiger crap, I've had better days,' she laughed.

'I didn't mean that part, wiseass, I meant meeting each other.'

'Well, you don't exactly make the best first impression but I am glad we met if that's what you're asking.'

'I am too, you're a huge part of my life Lindsay, I don't want that to ever change.'

She looked away and carried on eating her ice cream. There was silence for a few minutes and he just enjoyed being close to her. He had no right to expect her still to want to spend time with him, but he was so grateful she did.

'I'm moving in with Flack,' he blurted out, looking at Lindsay trying to gauge her reaction.

She was definitely surprised, not sure where this was coming from.

'Why?'

'I just didn't want to be in my apartment any more. Too much has happened there, too many bad memories. Memories I'm not proud of. I'm trying to be a better person Lindsay,' he admitted softly.

'I know you are Danny, I hope you find what you're looking for.'

'I already did, and I lost it' his voice cracked. 'I might not ever get you back but If I do I don't want you to have to be around anything that reminds you of my mistakes.'

She swallowed the lump in her throat, glad that her sunglasses were hiding the tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.

'Danny, let's just concentrate on being friends huh? You don't have to change your life for me, I can't promise you anything in return.'

'I'm not asking you to promise me anything Lindsay, you don't owe me anything. I just want you to know that you are the best thing I've ever had in my life.'

The tears started rolling down her cheeks now as she struggled to compose herself. He knew her too well for that. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her tightly against his chest. She 

resisted at first and then just sank into his embrace. They spent a few minutes just getting used to the feel of each other again before Lindsay pulled away and stood up.

'Right, let's go see the giraffes,' she said with false enthusiasm and started walking. As he got up to follow he couldn't help the huge grin that spread across his face, they had just had a major breakthrough.