They walked slowly, hand in hand through the woodland near their cabin taking in everything around them. This had been the place where Danny had finally realised he had grown up. Before Lindsay he had never gone away with a woman before; frightened it would give them the wrong idea about his intentions. She had been special right from the start; the one he would breaks all his rules for. That he had jeopardised it so stupidly was still unbelievable to him.

Lindsay enjoyed the feel of her hand in his; him leading her through the trees. She had always been such an independent woman but she loved that she could let Danny take charge of certain things. If a previous boyfriend had taken control the way he did, paying for all their dates or doing all the driving when they were together, she would have been very irritated. However, being Danny Messer's girl had always made her feel wonderful. She would never admit it to her more feminist friends but when Danny opened doors for her or pulled out her chair she always felt special. He didn't do it to show her who was in charge, he did it because he was raised to be a gentleman.

She had realised it was how all Messer men were. The first time she had attended a big family dinner at his parents' house, she had excused herself from the huge dining table to go to the restroom. All six men at the table had stood up with her. She was charmed by this family, particularly Vito, Danny's father. He had sat next to her that night, kissed her hand when they met, poured all her wine for her and pulled her chair out. If any other man she knew had done this she would have thought he was flirting, but she quickly realised this was a family thing. All the men there were the same. Some had been married forty years and still thought nothing of treating their wives like ladies.

That was how she knew Danny must be getting hell from his family over his treatment of her. She had been welcomed by them and she knew these people would be furious with him. That wasn't the way he was raised.

As they emerged from the trees into a clearing just before the brook she exhaled sharply. She had forgotten how beautiful it was here. She knew logically that many other people had been here before them but this spot would always feel like hers and Danny's. He spread the blanket on the ground and motioned for her to sit down. He opened the bottle of chilled chardonnay they had brought and poured them each a glass.

She positioned herself between his legs, resting her back against his chest and he hugged her from behind. They sat quietly for a while, sipping wine and admiring the view.

You gave me the chance and I will.

She turned around and kissed him lightly on the lips.

'I love you tool Danny.'

The smile that lit his face blew her away. They had far to go but she could tell that he was enthusiastic to make this work.

Danny put his glass on the ground and took Lindsay's to do the same. He wrapped one arm around her waist and drew her in for a more passionate kiss. As soon as his lips touched hers she opened her mouth and his tongue met hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lay back on the 

blanket, taking her with him. They lay like that, making out for what seemed an eternity. His hands, which had started out on her back moved slowly down towards her rear and soon he was stroking her ass through her jeans. She felt a momentary unease but quickly pushed it aside. He turned them around so he was lying on top of her, supporting himself on one elbow. His free hand was making its way to the hem of her tank top where it stopped to stroke the flat plain of her stomach. When his hand moved underneath the material and travelled to her bare breast she froze. Her nipple hardened immediately and while her body reacted to his touch her mind was screaming at her to stop. Images of him doing this to Rikki assailed her and she felt queasy. He began to kiss her neck and she closed her eyes, trying to banish the mental pictures and the sound of his heavy breathing. His hand was moving again, this time down towards her jeans. He undid the button and his hand was now cupping her through the material of her panties. She felt tears leak from her eyes and roll off her face onto the blanket behind her.

'Stop.'

She pulled his hand from her jeans and rolled from under him. Standing up she started walking towards the brook, immediately embarrassed by her behaviour. She felt like a teenager again, trying to rebuff some horny boy's advances.

Danny sat for a moment, surprised by her reaction. Soon he was on his feet and following. When he got to where she was standing he stood beside her.

'I'm sorry, god I'm such an idiot. It's too soon isn't it? I knew I was going too fast, I just got carried away. We can wait, as long as you need I swear,' Danny rambled.

'I just...I can't stop picturing you with her. When your hands are on me I'm wondering if you did the same to her. I'm wondering if her breasts are bigger, if you prefer the noises she made or if she turned you on more than I do.'

Danny took a deep breath, he hadn't even considered than Lindsay might now be self conscious about making love with him. In his mind nobody he had ever slept with compared to Lindsay but would she believe that?

'Lindsay, nobody else comes close. I don't think of what I did with her in terms of "that was hot". I think about it as the stupidest thing I have ever done. I don't even remember it clearly, I couldn't tell you details. It's all a blur to me. I don't know if she has any ticklish spots like you do on the back of your legs. I don't know if she has any little birthmarks like you do underneath your right breast. I don't know if she likes to be kissed on the back of her neck and I don't want to know. You're the only person I ever took that kind of time with, the only one I want to know these things about.'

'I...I don't feel like enough anymore Danny. You could have come to me for sex but you chose her...'

'I didn't! It wasn't about sex Lindsay, if it was you would be the only person I'd come to. It was about Ruben and trying to get rid of the grief and guilt...'

'I know, I just...this is going to take some time Danny. I want to be with you but I can't be that intimate with you yet.'



She turned to look him in the eye and he saw once again the pain he had caused her. Her mouth was still swollen from his kissed but her tear rimmed eyes made his heart ache.

'That's fine, I told you. I'll wait as long as it takes. In the meantime we can just try to get the rest of our relationship back on track. We can go back to the beginning, start dating again. It might be fun,' he smiled softly.

'Yeah, sounds good. We should get back to the cabin.'

They quietly packed up, making their way back to the cabin hand in hand.

That night they watched movies and ate popcorn sitting comfortably on the couch. When it was time for bed Danny found himself a little lost.

'Do you want me to sleep on the couch, it's not a problem.'

'No, we can share a bed. I'd like to share a bed, as long as there's no sex,' she grinned.

'I can do that.'

Once they got into bed Danny stayed on his side, fearful of upsetting her again. Lindsay thought this was sweet but she didn't mind being close to him. She knew though that after today he would take his lead from her. He'd go out of his way to make her feel comfortable. Deciding that she would need to be the one to set the pace, she scooted over to his side, curled herself against his chest and laid a soft kiss against his lips.

'Goodnight Danny.'

He wrapped his arms around her and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

'Goodnight Lindsay, I love you.'