Danny knew that he should probably stop and think about the situation. But his blood was boiling, and the only thing he could see was Don and Lindsay kissing. Stella's words echoed in his head, and he started to wonder if they had slept together, if they had been together this entire time. Sweat broke out on his forehead; steeling his resolve, he pounded on the door.
He meant to say something. On the drive over, he had run through a thousand speeches in his head. As Flack opened the door and faced him, however, only one thing came to mind.
He punched him.
Flack hadn't been expecting it, and the blow sent him back into his apartment, sliding along the floor on his back. His lip was split and bleeding, and he stared up at his friend in disbelief.
"What the fuck is your problem, Messer?"
But Danny found that he didn't have any words. He charged through the door instead, his face mottled with anger and hurt. Seeing that he wasn't going to stop, Flack struggled to his feet, standing just before Danny bent low and rammed his shoulder into his chest. Both men went down hard, slamming into one of the end tables next to the couch. The lamp clattered to the floor as Danny gained the upper hand, pummeling his friend over and over again.
"You bastard!!" he yelled.
Flack had had enough. He caught Danny's next punch in his hand and then threw out his own fist, knocking the other man backwards onto the floor. With the extra weight off of him, Don rose to his feet once more, and he saw that Danny was standing as well. Without waiting for his friend to take another swing, Flack moved in, landing a blow to Danny's stomach and then another to his face.
They kept hitting each other for awhile, but the anger was slowly seeping out of them. Danny was tired and bruised, and he realized that beating up his friend wasn't making him feel any better. Flack was still confused as to why they were fighting in the first place, and as Danny stopping throwing punches, he did as well. Finally, they both sank to the floor, leaning back against the couch.
"What the hell did you hit me for?" Flack finally asked, breathing heavily.
Danny lifted a hand, wiping some of the blood off of his mouth. "You been makin' time with my girl."
Don raised his eyebrows and stared at him incredulously. "Your girl? You mean Monroe? 'Cause let me tell ya somethin', Danny - she ain't your girl no more."
"I know that," he replied sullenly. "But that don't give you the right -"
"To what? You think I'm sleepin' with her?"
"I know you kissed her."
That shut Flack up for a minute. He looked at his friend, seeing the hurt in his eyes, and he knew he had to tell him what happened. It didn't matter if he beat the crap out of him - he deserved the truth.
"You're right. I did."
Danny's eyes hardened. "And you think that's okay?"
"No. Do you wanna hear what happened or you just gonna start swingin' again?" When he didn't make any move to get up, Don took a deep breath and continued. "It was about a couple weeks after you cheated on her. I found her cryin' in the locker room. I swear to God, Dan, I wasn't tryin' to make a move. I hugged her, and then...she kissed me."
"And you kissed her back?"
"Yeah, I did...and to be honest with ya, Dan...I wanted to."
"What?"
Flack dropped his eyes, refusing to look at him. "She kissed me, and all I wanted to do was kiss her back. So I did. 'Cause I was in love with her a long time before you were, Messer. And when I found out that you had fucked up and she was in my arms...I had every intention of takin' what I wanted."
"So you did sleep with her."
"No, I didn't. I kissed her, but that's as far as it went."
"But you said -"
"She didn't want me, Danny. She wanted to hurt you. And she wanted her own hurt to stop for just a little while. And as much as I wanted her, I couldn't do that to either of you."
Danny didn't know what to say. Flack's words shook him to the core, and he found himself looking at his friend in an entirely different light. Not once had he suspected that Don's feelings for Lindsay went any deeper than friendship. And now that he saw it, he realized what a struggle it must have been - both to watch Lindsay go out with his best friend, and to pull away when she offered him the very thing he wanted most.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't know."
"You weren't supposed to."
Danny shifted uncomfortably. "Are you..." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you still have feelings for her?"
"No."
"What? You got over her?"
Flack nodded. "Remember that night in the bar? I asked if ya if you ever wanted somethin' really bad, only to realize that you wanted somethin' else entirely?"
"Yeah. That was the night you had to go pick up Stella -" He stopped. "Stella," he whispered.
"What can I say? I'm obviously a glutton for punishment."
Danny shook his head. "Nah. Stella feels the same way about you, Flack. You can see it in her eyes."
"I seem to have a penchant for falling for women who are interested in my friends."
"Mac, you mean?" Danny shrugged. "I always wondered...there was this...sexual tension between them for a long time. But things are different now, man. I don't know if you can see it, but...it's not there anymore. She doesn't...look at him the same way anymore. Now she's only lookin' at you."
"I wish." Flack sighed. "What about you and Monroe? You gonna fix things or what?"
"She doesn't -"
"She does. She's been through hell these past few months, but she's startin' to come together again. I think it's about time you two talked."
"Maybe you're right."
"No maybe about it, Messer. Just don't fuck up again or I'll break your fuckin' neck, you got that?"
"Trust me, I got it. I don't ever wanna see that look in her eyes ever again." Danny paused, wincing as he shifted again. "Sorry I hit you, man."
Flack shrugged. "Eh. It was about time we had that fight anyway. I been wantin' to kick your ass since I found out about Rikki."
Danny winced again. "Please. Don't even mention her."
"She still across the hall?"
He shook his head. "Moved."
"Thank God."
"I know." He looked over at the kitchen. "You want a beer?"
Flack laughed. "Yeah. A beer sounds great."