Chapter 22 – December 22, 2006

December 22nd turned out to be a nasty, cold, damp day. The worst part was that Danny had been stuck processing when it started to pour sleet and looked more like a wet monkey when he stepped onto the floor of the lab. Lindsay had processed and inside scene with Hawkes and Mac and looked concerned when he stepped into the layout room he was going to apparently be sharing with her.

"You okay, Dan?" she asked softly, pulling a tape lift off of where she'd stuck it.

"Cold," he answered glancing at his watch. "You think Mac'll let me go home in an hour?"

Lindsay chuckled. "You're probably stuck for about three. I'll make you a deal though."

"Shoot away, Montana."

"I'll help you with those, once I finish with mine, if you come over tonight."

"Wait a second, what am I givin' you?"

She smiled. "The pleasure of your entertaining company," she answered.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Don't know if that's much payment on my side."

"Fine," she said with a roll of her eyes. "You pick up dinner."

"Now you've got a deal."

Lindsay nodded once in confirmation before digging into her pocket and withdrawing a pair of keys. "This is yours."

He inspected the key carefully. "You stole my keys?"

"No. Those are to my apartment complex. I figured you could probably use them more and this way I know there's somebody out there with them just in case I lock mine inside or forget them somewhere."

Danny knocked on Lindsay's door, out of manners. He could smell something deliciously chocolate wafting from the apartment on the other side. The door opened and there stood Lindsay, looking extremely comfortable in track pants and a tank top.

"Hey," she greeted, taking the bags from his hands. "You could have just opened the door."

"My ma taught me manners."

Lindsay rolled her eyes. "I gave you the key for a reason, Dan."

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, I grabbed my change of clothes from my locker, but I'm still feelin' horribly wet. You mind if I borrow your shower?"

She shook her head. "Go right ahead."

Fifteen minutes later, Danny stepped out of the shower and into his clothes, meeting her in her living room by the tree. She'd turned out the lights, the only illumination coming from the television and the lights of the Christmas tree. He grinned as he met her eyes. "If you wanted us to be alone in the dark, Montana, you just had to ask."

She chuckled, but blushed. "It's better to watch movies in the dark."

"You had somethin' planned?"

"I was going to watch the Grinch and Rudolph and I was going to do it with or without you, I just figured I'd extend the invitation," she answered, though she handed him a mug.

Upon first sip, Danny determined it was cocoa and not coffee. "The homemade recipe you told Stel about?"

She was surprised. "You remembered?"

"Of course I remembered. I'm paid to be observant, why wouldn't I remember?"

Her fingers played with the handle of her own mug. "It's so insignificant."

Danny chuckled. "Linds, I've learned that nothing with you is insignificant."

Lindsay blushed again. "Come on. I think dinner's still at least a little bit warm."

He sat right beside her, so his thigh was pressed gently against hers even with her feet tucked under a Christmas blanket beside her. "You know, if my feet get cold I'm going to expect you to share," he said, tugging on the edge of the blanket as she cued up the movies. He was surprised to note that both were VHS tapes.

"If you have cold toes, it's your fault and you sharing my blanket will just make my feet cold," she shot back, though she knew she'd be sharing if he asked. Well, whined.

"These are the old school movies," he quipped as she pressed the button to fast forward through the previews at the beginning.

"Of course they are. I've had them since I can remember. I brought them with me."

"So this is another Christmas tradition then?"

"You'd better believe it. I missed this last year," she answered, pressing play. Then she snuggled into his side, her mug cupped in her hands and food within reach.

By the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas Lindsay was fast asleep. He'd laughed at her a few times because he caught her saying the lines along with the narrator on the screen. They'd shifted during the movie so his feet and hers were side-by-side on the couch and she was cuddled in his arms. Her head rested on a cushion by his heart and his was propped up on his elbow to see the screen. He shook her gently as the final lines of the movie finished.

"No," she murmured, awkwardly rolling over and pressing into him more.

Danny chuckled. "Movie's over, Monroe. We've got a little bit of cleaning up to do."

Her eyes blinked open slowly and she tilted her head back to look up at him. "Over?"

"You fell asleep."

She blushed and groaned. "I must have had a more exhausting day than I'd thought."

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Let's clean up before Rudolph. I'll take care of the garbage and plates if you'll make me another mug of your chocolate."

She grinned, stretching to kiss him quickly before throwing the blankets off of her legs. "You're on, Cowboy."

He followed her into the kitchen with their plates in one hand and the bag of take out containers in the other. She set about opening and closing cupboards, taking ingredients out and setting them on the counter. They moved around each other without making harsh contact once, the same way they moved around a crime scene and the lab. Lindsay smiled as she looked over at him, elbow deep in soap suds.

"What's up, Montana?" he asked without looking at her.

She shrugged and turned back to the milk she'd set on the stove. "Just thinking."

"Again? You've really gotta get outta that habit, Linds."

She laughed. "Why is that?"

"It gets pretty dangerous to be thinkin' all the time."

"Reflecting a better way to say it?" she asked, putting her pot on a separate burner and moving to dry the few dishes he'd already washed.

"I tried that once…" He wasn't sure if he wanted to have a serious discussion with her. He knew he'd been the one to lose his cool last night and come back to her apartment just to hold her. It was out of character, but he couldn't help himself. Sometime soon they would have all of the serious conversations they needed to, but on the second official day of their relationship, seriousness could be put aside.

She chuckled. "You're standing at my sink, doing dishes with soap up to your elbows and I'm boiling milk on the stove." She shrugged. "It's comfortable. We don't run into each other."

"We never do at the lab either," he pointed out, watching the water spin down the drain as he rinsed his arms of the suds. He felt more than saw Lindsay shiver beside him. "Cold?"

She shook her head. She'd watched him brush and wash the suds from his forearms and felt the brush creeping up her cheeks. It had always been like this, but she'd usually been able to suppress it. Now he was in her space, looking like he was made to be there and she knew he was as hot as hell. "Ready for Rudolph?"

He grinned at her. "You're on, Montana."

Part of me feels it's cruel to leave you here because I could go through how they watch Rudolph, but I like it where it is, so I'll apologize instead. You guys have been really awesome about helping me reach my goal of 200 reviews, thank you. I'm only 19 away with 3 chapters to go and I'm pretty confident you guys can make that!

Actually, I lied. Because of popular demand, and my own love of this story arc, the story will be extended to New Years, and then the sequel will pick up from there. So I guess there's technically about 10 more chapters…

For those who have been reading Family Matters, it's done. I'll start posting the sequel after Christmas Day since it's all written.

Finally, and again, thanks so much for reviewing. They never cease to put a smile on my face.