He got up and grabbed his suit jacket, following her out the door. The night was cool and refreshing, and they walked for a long time without speaking. Mac knew that Stella had to be the one to start - she had come to him for a reason, and he wanted to give her the time to say whatever she needed to say.
"This is hard."
He glanced over at her, grimacing. "I'm sorry."
She stopped, shaking her head and smiling. "Not you and me, Mac. I mean...this. Talking...admitting things. It's hard."
Facing her, he slid his hands into his pockets and took a deep breath. "Stella, you don't have to -"
"I do, actually. Because I'd like my friend back, and I can't have that unless we clear the air."
Mac nodded, signaling for her to continue.
"We've always been close...and I don't know how it happened, Mac, but...I fell in love with you. I didn't mean to. I didn't want to. But I did. And that morning that I found out about you and Michelle...I was going to tell you."
He closed his eyes against the pain that went straight to his heart. "Stella, I -"
"Don't. Just let me finish. I'm not going to lie to you - it hurt. More than almost anything else I've endured. But you were happy...and in the long run, that was the only thing that mattered. " Stella looked down at her feet as they started walking again, trying to gather the rest of her thoughts. "I ran into Flack one night in a bar, and we started talking. It turned out that he was going through the same thing with Lindsay. So we kept talking, and we became really good friends."
"I'm glad you had someone," he said quietly.
Stella smiled. "Me too. I've learned a lot about Don in the past few months. He's really an amazing man. And somewhere along the way...I got over you and...and fell in love with him."
Mac stopped, turning to face her, a smile forming on his lips. "I thought so."
"You knew?"
He shrugged. "I knew something was happening between the two of you. At least on Flack's end. It's all over his face whenever he looks at you. I was hoping you felt the same about him. I think you're good for each other, Stella."
"I do, too. I would have told him earlier, but..."
"But what?"
"I had to be sure. We've spent so much time together, comforting each other, drying each other's tears...I had to make sure that it wasn't just comfort. I needed to know that what I felt for him was real."
"And do you know that now?"
Stella nodded. "I do. I knew it when I realized that I felt the same way about him that I did about you all those years...only more. Just thinking about him makes me grin like an idiot," she added, blushing slightly.
Mac smiled. "It's a good look for you."
"I'm sorry, Mac. For making all of this so difficult."
He shook his head, pulling her into a tight embrace. "I'm the one who's sorry," he corrected. "I hurt you, and I didn't even see it until it was too late."
They pulled apart and started walking again. The air between them felt lighter, and for the first time in a long while, they felt comfortable with each other.
"There's something I needed to tell you as well," Mac finally said.
"Yeah?"
"I want to ask Michelle to marry me."
Stella stopped, the smile bright and genuine on her face. "Mac, that's wonderful. Do you have a ring?"
He nodded, slipping his hand into his jacket pocket and pulling out a little black box. As he handed it to Stella, he watched her nervously.
"I've been thinking about it for a few weeks now. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to hurt you any more."
She looked up at him, reaching out and resting her hand on his cheek. "But now you know you're not." Opening the box, she stared in admiration at the ring placed in the center. "Oh, Mac," she whispered. "It's beautiful."
"You think she'll like it?"
"She'll love it." Stella closed the box and handed it back to him. "And she loves you. She'll say yes."
"I'm planning on asking her tomorrow."
"I expect a call from one of you letting me know how it went."
Mac smiled. "Of course. And I expect one to let me know when you've finally talked to Flack."
Stella blushed. "I haven't figured out when I'm going to do that yet."
He looked at her intently. "Do it soon, Stella. You both deserve to be happy."
"Soon," she promised, nodding her head. "Because you're right - we do deserve it."
88888888888888888888888
"Hey, Montana."
Lindsay glanced up to see Danny standing in the doorway of their office. It had been his day off, and she could tell that he had been out playing basketball, probably with Flack.
"Hey, Danny," she said quietly.
He came in, taking the chair from his desk and rolling it closer to her before sitting down. Resting his forearms on his thighs, he clasped his hands and looked at her.
"I was wonderin' if we could talk."
She gave him a small smile. "I'd like that."
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice cracking slightly. "I know I fucked up. I know I broke your heart. And I also know I can't ever undo that. But I'm so sorry, Lindsay."
She held up her hand to stop him. "I know you are, Danny. You don't have to apologize anymore. I just needed time to deal with things."
Danny nodded, staring down at the floor. "I miss you," he whispered.
"I miss you, too." When he looked up at her, she gave him a sad smile, reaching out to touch his cheek. "But we can't just go back, Danny. I'm not sure we can go back at all."
"I know that," he assured her. "But...is there any way I can get my friend back?"
Lindsay nodded. "I think we can do that."
He smiled then, and she realized just how much she had missed that. Neither of them had had cause to smile in so long, and it felt good.
"Do you wanna grab somethin' to eat then? It's not a date, I promise," he rushed to explain. "We can even invite Mac or Stella or Adam -"
Lindsay's face fell. "I have a date," she blurted.
Danny did everything he could to keep his face blank. "Oh."
"I'm sorry -"
He shook his head. "I got no right to ya anymore, Montana. Just make sure that this guy knows if he treats ya wrong, there'll be hell to pay."
On impulse, Lindsay reached out and hugged him fiercely. Danny closed his eyes, breathing her in, reminding himself over and over again that she wasn't his anymore, that this was as close as he was ever going to get. By the time she pulled away again, he had steeled himself as much as he could, and mustered the only smile he could find.
"Have fun," he told her.
She nodded as she grabbed her purse and jacket. "Lunch tomorrow?" she suggested.
He stood awkwardly, hands shoved into his pockets as he nodded once. "You got it."
"See you later, Danny."
He watched as she walked out of the office, and his heart sank. "Bye, Montana," he whispered.