Lindsay was relieved to be home in New York. She had enjoyed her time in New Jersey and the experience had been valuable but she could never call it home. She couldn't wait to see everyone she worked with again. She had missed girl talk with Stella, it was so not the same by e-mail. She had missed Mac's firm but fatherly direction, Hawkes' kindness, Flack's sense of humour, Adam's naive charm and Sid's creepy enthusiasm. Most of all she had missed her man. She couldn't wait to see him, and she wouldn't have to. He was on his way over now with breakfast and, hopefully, gossip. She had arrived home early that morning wanting to avoid the traffic, an impossible task. 7am in New York looked pretty much like rush hour in any other city.

She had unpacked and called Danny to let him know she was home. She was not surprised when he told her he'd be over shortly, from their phone calls she knew he was missing her as much as she was him.

The heatwave was finally starting to die down and the air was becoming less stifling. She grabbed a bottle of water from her fridge and went to sit on the fire escape and wait for Danny.
He arrived a half hour later and she buzzed him into the building. She felt a little nervous about seeing him again but quickly pushed those feelings aside. When she opened the door she was greeted by the biggest Danny Messer smile she had seen in months and she couldn't help but return it with one of her own. His happiness was infectious. He lay the paper bag he was carrying down by the door and stepped forward to pull her into a hug. Her arms immediately wrapped themselves around his body and she buried her face in his chest. They stood in comfortable silence for a few moments, getting lost in the feel and smell of each other again. He bent down and kissed her on the top of her head and she closed her eyes.

'OK Messer, what did you bring me?'

They stepped out of the hug and he picked the bag up from the floor, carrying it towards the kitchen.

'I brought bagels, those pastry things you like, some fruit, Orange Juice and coffee from Starbucks. I figured you wouldn't have any milk or O.J. in your fridge.' He started unpacking the bag and her mouth started watering at the smell of her favourite pecan pastry and Cinnamon blend coffee. For some reason she was stupidly pleased that he had remembered.

They brought their breakfast through to the table and he sat filling her in on everything that had happened. There had been some seriously whacked out cases while she was away. She knew she would never leave New York again, she had grown accustomed to this mad place and even the crazy people who inhabited it. She felt herself smile when he filled her in on Don and Jess. Apparently even Adam was getting in on the action, he had started dating Hawkes' baby sister Haley.

'Do you have any plans for tomorrow night?' he asked.

'Nope, nothing planned. Why?'

'The team want to get together for drinks, a "Welcome Back Montana" kinda thing.'

'Danny, you're the only one who calls me Montana,' she laughed lightly. 'Except that one time Hawkes tried it. Tell them I'd love to.'

'Hawkes called you Montana?' he asked with a little frown.

'I think he was only doing it to cheer me up, he realised his mistake pretty quickly,' she chuckled.

Danny looked down at his coffee, he knew what she was talking about, why she had needed cheering up in the first place. Had he been the only one not to notice how badly he was hurting her?

'Danny, come on. I didn't say that to make you feel bad. We need to put this behind us so lets just try to forget it OK?'

'Sure.' He reached over the table and took her hand, looking into her eyes. She could still see the regret there and that comforted her a little. The only reason she was taking Danny back was because she knew the regret was real. He wasn't like most guys, regretting the fact that he'd been caught. He regretted everything that had happened and she believed him when he told her that he was going to confess.

They spent the rest of the day together. They went to see a movie, ate lunch at one of their favourite restaurants and then stopped by Danny's parents' place for dinner. They didn't need to call first to check it was OK, Francesca prided herself on always being prepared for unexpected guests. This time was no exception. The dinner she had been cooking for herself and Vito had suddenly been transformed into a feast and the call tree was started. When Danny's relatives started arriving two by two Lindsay felt the familiar glow of being part of a family. No big deal was made of the fact that Lindsay was there, it was like she had never left. They knew she would not have been comfortable with questions or proclamations so they just let her settle back in seamlessly. She appreciated this enormously.

After saying goodbye to his family they travelled home quietly, holding hands all the way.

Danny wasn't sure about what came next. Should he drop her off, walk her to her door or invite himself into her apartment. It was still pretty early and he didn't want to leave her yet but he respected the fact that she didn't want to sleep with him.

Lindsay sensed his apprehension and it made her smile a little. She knew after their discussion at the cabin that he would go out of his way not to push her on this but sometimes he really did take the gentleman thing too far.

When he pulled over to the curb outside her apartment she decided to break the tension.

'You wanna come up for a while? There's probably something really crappy on TV we can ignore and make out instead.'

Danny spluttered trying to form an answer. When he looked over at Lindsay she was sporting a huge grin.

'Oh so you think my discomfort is amusing, Montana? I go out of my way to give you space and you're laughing at me!' he said, trying to be firm. The fact that he was smiling too made it difficult to pull off.

'I'm quite small Danny, I don't need that much space.' He looked at her in confusion and she realised she would have to elaborate.

'I said we should slow down Danny, not stop altogether. Just because I don't want to sleep with you doesn't mean I didn't miss being with you, kissing you. Not every make out session has to lead to sex, or can't you remember high school?' she giggled.

'I do remember high school, but making out usually did lead to sex for me,' he bragged, his smirk firmly back in place.

'Not this time buddy, you coming up or what?'

He followed her up to the apartment and made himself at home on her couch while she grabbed them a couple of beers. He found a suitably bad TV show and waited for her to come back.
When she returned she placed both beers on the coffee table and reached for the remote control, turning the volume down. She climbed onto the couch next to him and immediately leaned in for a kiss.

He complied quickly, wrapping his arms around her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth to his. They got lost in the simplicity of their kisses. The angle was all wrong, however, and they both started to get sore necks. They broke apart for a second and Lindsay took advantage of the opportunity. She relocated herself to his lap, straddling him but not pressing herself against him, not wanting to tease.

'Is this OK?' she asked hesitantly.

'Sure.' He made no move to bring her closer to his body, aware that she might not be comfortable with just how aroused their kissing had left him. They resumed their kissing and his hands began running up and down her back, occasionally getting lost in her hair. Her body was responding just as much as his and she unconsciously moved herself closer to him. She felt herself pressed tightly against him from hip to shoulder and it felt Divine. His arms got in on the act and crushed her against him even tighter. He left her lips and began sucking and biting at her neck and she heard a long, guttural sigh escape from her throat. The throb that had started between her legs was getting out of control and she shifted herself slightly to try to get some relief. She immediately found herself pressed against his almost painful erection and they both froze. They stared at each other for a moment trying to figure out how this had got out of control so quickly.

He noticed her swollen lips, Her flushed face, heavy breathing and the marks he had left on her neck and immediately felt guilty. He had taken advantage of her.

She was feeling guilt of her own though, she had been the one to initiate this and she was the one who had sat in his lap. She had gotten him all turned on when she had no intention of taking it any further. His hair was all mussed up and he seemed to be having trouble breathing. They stared at each other for another few seconds before they both burst into laughter.

After they both got themselves under control Lindsay removed herself from his lap and sat next to him on the couch.

'I'm sorry Danny, I didn't mean to tease, I guess I jut got carried away,' she said guiltily.

'No, it's my fault, sorry. I took advantage, I know you didn't want things to go that far.'

'Danny, it's my fault, I sat on your lap and got you all excited,' she said gesturing towards his still evident hard on.

'Well I'm not the only one. It's not like it's cold in here Lindsay,' he said while gesturing towards her chest. She followed his gaze and realised that her traitorous nipples were giving her away. She quickly covered herself with her arms.

They both began laughing again at the absurdity of the situation. It was indeed like being back in high school.

'Good news is, I didn't freak out like last time. Bad news is I still want to wait a while. And I promise no more teasing.'

'Don't worry about it, like I said, we can wait as long as it takes. And don't worry about the teasing,' he smirked. 'I enjoyed it as much as you did.'

He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek before standing up and heading for the door.