Just warning you all, it gets a bit mushy further in.
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Stella kept an eye on them throughout the whole course of the shift having been unable to make any sort of move at the scene as the heavens opened and they had to make a run for it, clutching whatever evidence they had managed to collect.
Any movement they made, any touch, glance or spoken word was noted by her as Stella tried to piece it all together. To work out how she had missed it all.
Lindsay and Flack felt as though their life was under the microscope.
Late in the afternoon, in a barely used store cupboard in a quite section of the lab, they managed to get some time to their selves. Sneaking away from Stella hadn't been easy, but she was currently relying the major points of their case to Mac. Giving them a chance to make a break for it.
When Flack shut the door behind them, they both let out a long breath.
"Is she for real?" Flack asked as he lent back on the door, not feeling entirely safe from the Greek storm known as Stella and the door didn't have a lock on it.
"You know what she's been like for the last couple of months," Lindsay said, taking a brief look around their surroundings, "Imagine what she's gonna be like now that she knows we've been…fooling around under her nose."
"Fooling around?" Flack asked with a grin.
"Enough of that," Lindsay said as she came close enough to slap him on the arm. "That's what got us in this situation to begin with."
"What got us in this situation," Flack said, crossing his arms, "Was that someone cant read the on call register properly."
Lindsay conceded that point to him.
"If we ask, she'll keep it quiet." she said.
Flack turned to her then, his eyebrows contracting. "You still want to keep between us?" he asked. "Stella knows and I'm pretty sure Hawkes does as well. Telling Mac and the others, it wouldn't be that much of a jump."
She backed away a little, shaking her head. "I just don't think it's a good idea."
"Why not Lindsay?
He understood why she wanted to keep it quiet, he really did, but there where times when he just wanted to shout it from the rooftops. To let the world know that she was his and that that wasn't going to be changing any time soon.
"I'm scared," she admitted, leaning close and taking the warmth that his body gave. "I'm scared that if we tell, then this is all going to come crashing down around us." She looked up at him then with wide, pleading eyes. "I wouldn't survive this time Don."
He wrapped his arms around her then, pulling her to his chest and burrowing his face in her hair. After awhile he slid his hands up her body. Cupping her face, he wiped away at the few tears that had escaped from her eyes with his thumbs before pulling her face to his and kissing her gently.
After awhile, Don leant back but kept close enough so that their foreheads remained touching. "I cant promise you that I'm always going to be here, cause I don't know what's round the corner. But what I can promise, is that I will never, ever hurt you on purpose. I love you Lindsay, and I don't see that changing. Not tomorrow, not next month. Not for the next fifty years."
She opened her mouth to speak and he silenced her with a short kiss.
"I want to tell the world about us," he continued, "I want to shout it from the rooftops, but if you want to keep things low key for a while longer, then that's fine with me. Just remember, we'll have to tell them sometime. Otherwise they are all going to get suspicious about the amount of time we're spending together." He flashed her one of his smiles then
Her hands came up to the back of his neck then and pulled him firmly towards her, meshing his lips to hers and kissing him for all her worth.
He had wanted to tell her that they would have to tell everyone before the wedding, but had decided that now possibly wasn't the right time. Even ten months into their relationship he knew he didn't want to let go. He was done with the dating game and the heartache that it brought, he had found his one.
The knock on the door startled them both. Flack reached for the handle and turned it, opening the door to reveal a smiling Hawkes on the other side. "Sorry to disturb you guys, but Stella's on the war path looking for the two of you and I thought it might be better for her to find you, than not."
Lindsay squeezed past Flack and stepped out into the corridor. "Well, I was off shift half and hour ago," she said, looking at her watch and then at the two men. "What do you say we go get some dinner?"
They where easy to spot when you came in the door. Sitting close together, heads bent towards the other as they spoke to each other as they waited, sharing a large plate of fries.
Lindsay and Flack had set off for the diner earlier, leaving Hawkes to find Stella and bring her out to where they had arranged to meet. Stella had been quite put out to find that the couple had left before she had ad a chance to corner them but settled when Hawkes told her that they where all meeting for something to eat.
They had barely sat down and had yet to put their order in when Stella started with the questions. How long had they been dating? Who knew? (with a sideways glance at Flack) Did he treat her right?
"So, how'd you know?" Flack asked, turning to Hawkes. The former ME smiled at him.
"Its amazing what you can learn in the morgue," he said.
"Hammerback?" Flack exclaimed.
"Well him and the fact that I saw the two of you out together a couple of months ago." Hawkes explained.
"Hammerback?" Flack said again as Stella said at the same time, "Months! You've kept this from me for months?"
"I'd like to remind you," Lindsay said to her friend as she sat back in the booth, "That a couple of months ago you found the idea of Flack and me, laughable."
"Yeah, but," Stella stuttered.
"We just think its better," Lindsay said.
Flack looked at her, "For now."
"For now," she answered.