Don Flack pulled off his tie and loosened a few buttons at the top of his light blue shirt. A shirt that had been crisp and bright before he started his 8 - which turned into 12 - hour shift at work. This was his attempt at getting changed for his great aunt's 78th birthday party, which he was already late for. He checked his hair in the rear view mirror of his SUV before lifting the lapels of his navy suit jacket and sniffing inside it. He shrugged to himself thinking he didn't smell so bad having spent the day chasing suspects in the sun and interrogating them in the stuffy NYPD building. He pulled is notebook from his suit pocket and got out of the car. As he reached the second floor of his aunt's building, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Danny Messer had just sent him a text letting him know he was on his way. A moment or two after Flack rang the doorbell the heavy wooden door opened. His sister Ellie had answered and stood with a beer in hand. Her dark her was straightened, yet she appeared to have put in as much effort into her clothes as Don. She wore a black lace, ruffle front blouse and blue denims. Don also noticed she was in her bare feet.

"I saw you coming." she smiled and handed the bottle to him.

"Thanks. What's that you're drinking?"

"Amaretto, why?"

"Maybe show a little restraint this time? You got an awful habit of getting way too drunk at these family parties."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Jeez, when did you become middle aged?" Don gave his sister a stern look.

"Alright, Mom, I'll try my best. Its not like I have anyone to drink with anyway, since you grew a vagina." She closed the door behind Don and stalked off to the kitchen to find something to eat.

---

20 minutes or so later and Danny had arrived.

"If you're hungry, there will be plenty of food in the kitchen." Flack said, knowing Danny must have had an equally long day as he did.

"Great, I"m starved." The bespectacled detective replied, rubbing his hands together. He headed towards the doorway Flack had pointed out.

"Hey, if you see my sister in there, remind her she's not to get hammered!"

---

Danny entered the brightly lit kitchen to find it empty except for Ellie. She was perched on the counter next to the sink, shoveling pretzels into her mouth.

"Danny! Hey!" she said thickly and continued to chew. She reached out to him, her fingers wriggling. He gave a laugh and walked to her, hugging her as tight as she hugged him.

"It's been too long." Danny said as they parted and he surveyed Ellie. Her top was rather see-through and he had to quickly withdraw his gaze before she noticed.

"Pretzel?" she asked, seemingly unaware of Danny's little perv.

He shook his head. "I was actually looking for something a little more substantial." His stomach gave a grumble.

"There's lasagne on the table?" Ellie offered. "Along with an assortment of other homemade delicacies, but I'd avoid the chilli. My cousin Sam made those, she likes to contribute at these gatherings, but she ain't the best cook."

"Alright, lasagne is it then!" Danny said, taking a plate and piling the pasta dish onto it.

---

Once Danny had finished eating, he grabbed a drink from the fridge and hoisted himself onto the kitchen counter beside Ellie. She had a bottle in her hand and filled a small glass from it every so often. She wiped her chin and licked her fingers as she spilled a little of the vibrant alcohol.

"You got good style, Messer." Ellie said with a wink. Not only were his clothes stylish and practical for his job, but his tight, white shirt was making it extremely difficult for Ellie not to stare at his chest. She just had to compliment him somehow. "Very rarely do you find a guy who can actually dress himself." She tossed another shot down her throat.

Danny grinned. He thought it was quite a comment coming from a clothes expert.

"And its also very rare to find a girl who drinks the way you do." he replied, taking a swig of his beer from the bottle. She glanced over her black framed glasses at him. Her green eyes sparkled like the stones that were set along the top of them.

"I'm taking that as a compliment, besides, its old aunt Giovanna's 700th birthday. And my family don't exactly throw the most swinging parties." Ellie gazed round the room. "So I've developed a skill of getting wasted and practically passing out in a corner - unnoticed by the way - with some leftover cake."

Danny laughed and shook his head. Ellie was a strange one. She was dorky and funny, yet so knowledgable and mature when she wanted to be. He quite liked the fact that she was incredibly quirky. It was refreshing to know a girl who wasn't scared to be herself.

"Except this time, it looks like I might have a drinking buddy. Care to join me in giggling at nothing in particular? Its not so much fun alone." Ellie held out a sherry glass filled with an acid green liquid. Danny considered for a moment. Flack would most likely kill him, he had already warned Ellie not to get drunk for once. But Ellie's smile got the better of him and he took the glass from her. She gave a triumphant laugh before calling out: "Bottoms up!"

---

A couple of hours and several drinks later and Ellie was singing along rather too loudly to 'Happy Birthday". Danny had spotted Flack peering across the room suspiciously. He gazed at Lily. She was well and truly wasted and he was feeling quite tipsy himself. The second the song was over he approached Don and handed him the keys to his bike and told him he was leaving.

"Don't let me take them, I'll be tempted to ride the bike home." Danny grinned a little.

"Alright man. Have you seen my sister? She wasn't tanked was she?"

"Nah, man. She's fine." Flack stared at Danny. Danny raised his eyebrows questioningly. He knew he was trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or not.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Flack patted Danny's shoulder and turned back to talking to his cousin.

Danny headed straight to the corner Ellie was reclined in and grabbed her hand. "C'mon, I'm getting you home before your brother starts a riot."

"What?" Ellie stumbled a little as Danny pulled her to her feet.

"Where the hell are your shoes?"

"I don't want to go yet, I haven't had any cake!"

Danny turned and took Ellie's hand. "Seriously, we're leaving. Now, please try remember where you left your shoes."

---

Ellie's black, flat, dolly shoes were finally located behind a potted ficus that was near the front door and Danny had taken her hand again as she stumbled down the stairs to the street.

"You have such soft skin." Ellie giggled, intertwining her fingers with Danny's. "Oooh! Can we go on your bike?! Man, I really want cake."

Danny turned to Ellie with a grin. He shook his head. "Thank you and no we can't go on my bike - I've had a few drinks."

Ellie opened her mouth to protest, but Danny held his free hand up.

"And, if you're not too hung over tomorrow lunchtime, I will take you out for some cake."

A huge grin spread across the short brunette's face. "Really, Danny?!"

He nodded in response. "Now come on." He said, putting an arm around Ellie's shoulders. "I better get you home."

"You promise, we can hang out and get cake?"

"I promise."

---

"You totally saved my butt last night, getting me home. I cannot thank you enough. I was so wrecked. If I'd have stayed at that party Don would have caught me and quite possibly killed me!" Ellie giggled and wiped the cherry red lip gloss mark from Danny's cheek. He smiled his crooked smile as he felt his cheeks tingle pink.

"Uh, no problem. Couldn't let 'Doris' as you were referring to him, read you the riot act for having a bit of fun."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that! So we gonna stand at this subway all day or are we going to eat? I'm starved."

"I believe I promised you some cake, there's a great little bakery just round the corner, we could grab a table outside since its such a nice day?"

The azure sky was almost completely cloudless and there was a light breeze gently blowing hair and clothes of those in the street.

"Sounds good! Lead the way, young man!" Ellie smiled and linked arms with her friend.