Toasty here,
I know it's been forever and I am really truly sorry for that but you see I can explain myself. My dad and I are moving house or were moving house so we had the internet shut off on the last day. It was supposed to happen at 9pm but British bloody Telecoms decided to have a little giggle and instead they shut it off at 11am and since I couldn't actually put this up I decided there wasn't any point in writing. So then, we go up to Wales for the big family reunion and that goes on till 3am before everyone managed to stumble back to their hotels so I couldn't update then. After that is was up so early I don't even want to think about it to get in the car and drive from North Wales down to the Isle of Wight to go camping with my mother and her family for a whole week, once more I was left without any internet connection. Finally I'm up at my Nan's for the rest of the holidays so all should be good.
So after the longest author's note/explanation ever I'd just like to thank everyone who has reviewed, added this story or faved this story since its start. You've all really motivated me and made me feel like my story is actually being enjoyed by the people out there lol. So thanks again, now I feel I should actually get on with the story…
Disclaimer: If I owned CSI New York (which I don't) then Shane Casey would have died slowly and painfully waaaay before he had even a chance to touch little Lucy.
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"Lindsay?" A soft voice answered the phone, the kind of voice someone acquires after sleeping peacefully in the sun for an hour or two. Danny's voice always had struck a certain chord in Lindsay and she wasn't exactly sure why but whenever he spoke to her or spoke her name Lindsay felt calm, like everything would really be ok. His words made her shiver and smile at the same time, made her feel like she wasn't just some girl, like she was someone worth something and someone who meant something.
"Danny, I don't know what to do, I'm so confused I need you right now and I need to sort this all out. I need to work out how to tell Jess, and what about Don? Oh god you have to help me," Lindsay's words came out all in a rush and Danny had to strain to hear them and understand each and every word she was saying. For a moment, there was just a pause in which he did not speak and for a second Lindsay felt as if she should simply hang up and scold herself for calling him and disturbing him. A few seconds later Danny spoke.
"Linds, come over, I'll pick you up if you need me to," Danny spoke in a collected manner yet inside he was screaming for Lindsay. He hated anything that put her in pain and hearing her so saddened pained him. He heard Lindsay gasp on the other end of the phone and was worried he had jumped too far and said something he shouldn't, yet then he heard Lindsay laugh, something that sounded strange compared to her hysterical voice a moment before.
"What in hell would I do without you? If you could get me please, I'll head up to our café, will you meet me there?" Lindsay managed to splutter out though she felt close to tears. She clutched the phone to her ear as if it were a lifeline and in truth, she felt as if Danny was her life line. He was the only thing holding her together when she really felt as if she would fall to pieces.
"That isn't a problem, I'll be there as soon as I can," Danny replied and as he spoke he leaped up from his chair, knocking the book he had been reading onto the floor and jogged over to the door, car keys in hand.
"Thank you," Lindsay whispered so gently Danny wasn't completely sure he didn't imagine it. Tears flowed gently down her face as Lindsay hung up and placed her phone into her jeans pocket cursing the fact she had left without even a coat on. Slowly, Lindsay began walking up the small street and onto a main road heading towards the small café which held some of her favourite memories.
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"Don?" Jess murmured quietly into his shoulder, her body pressed up against his, her skin touching his. The bed around them was messed up and the two of them lay still while the morning sun squinted through the crack in the curtains.
"Mmmmm," Don replied opening his eyes slightly to look at her. He gently lifted one arm out of their embrace and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, caressing her cheek as he did so.
"I love you," Jess whispered and although she had told him she loved him before, this time it held just a little more power. It wasn't that she didn't mean it before; she did love him then too. This time however there was the hidden music behind her words that spoke loud and clear that she could never love anyone else and loved him more then she had ever loved anyone else. Don looked right into her warm brown eyes and smiled a smile that made a small shiver run down Jess's spine.
"I'll always love you," Don spoke out gently breaking the quiet that belonged to the room. Jess let her hands roam his chest freely, stopping to gently massage every so often until she came to his scar that lay across his torso. Gently she placed her fingers around it before leaning down and leaving a small kiss atop of it. Shifting so she was once more lying level with him she leaned in and kissed his lips, relishing the warmth and joy that seemed to surge into her whenever her lips touched his.
"You know something?" Jess asked him quietly, placing her hands onto his cheeks. He smiled once more and lifted one of her hands to his lips and kissed it softly before letting her place it back.
"What?"
"I don't care what New York thinks. I don't care what my father thinks, or my brothers and their childish gang. I don't care about what anyone else thinks except you," Jess spoke quickly and as she finished she cut off any words Don might have added by placing her lips firmly on his and pulling herself even closer to him, if that were possible. Don wrapped his arms slowly around Jess's waist and kissed her back, their lips moved together in a rhythm that was yet to be created any where else.
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Lindsay smiled as she saw Danny's car pull up just outside the small café and she stood up quickly and began to move towards the outside. The air was brisk and cold as Lindsay half ran towards his car and opened the passenger seat. She slid into the warm leather seat and closed the door swiftly behind her.
"Where to, my lady?" Danny asked playfully and Lindsay looked over at him smiling. Before she could really register what she was doing, Lindsay leaned over the handbrake and kissed him.
It wasn't a soft kiss or a gently peck; it was all the passion and pain that had been storing up inside her. All the suspension she had been through and all the hurt of discovering things she still wished she didn't know. Her arms wound themselves around his neck and she found herself almost lost in the kiss. Danny moaned softly against her lips and Lindsay pulled back slightly, the need for air pulling her like she was attached by string. Danny sat there, a look of shock on his face as he gazed into her eyes. Lindsay only hesitated a second before kissing him again, this time far more gently, more lovingly.
"Danny," Lindsay breathed quietly, his eyes never left hers and for a few moments they both felt as if they had only each other, the rest of the world no longer existed as they gazed into each others eyes.
"Lucian- he wants- he wants- to marry Jess," Lindsay stumbled out, stuttering to form the words she wanted in order to let him know. Danny's face became somewhat aloft with fury before he took a few deep breaths and sighed deeply.
"No one tries to take my best friend's girl and no one tries to hurt my girl's best friend," Danny spoke boldly and didn't think through his words before they left his mouth causing his cheeks to turn an adorable shade of pink.
"I didn't mean to say you were my girl or anything- I mean," Danny tripped over his own words in a rush to explain it to her but instead of listening to a word he said she decided to just kiss him. It worked as a better convincer then anything else; words couldn't have told him how she felt like that kiss had.
"Who is Lucian anyway?" Danny asked his voice low and almost like a mutter. Lindsay stifled a giggle at his tone, it wasn't the time to laugh when their best friend's were going to be destroyed and torn apart by some pig.
"A sexist bastard that thinks all women should just stay at home and cook, clean you get the idea. He's been after Jess for years, he called not that long ago, I couldn't believe it was him, it's been so long I thought to all hell he might have buggered off, but no, the little bastard is still here!" Lindsay cried out in anger and frustration, her hands scrunching up inside her hair, clinging onto it. Slowly she leant down and rested her head in her lap.
"Whoa, hold it Montana, you gotta stop cursing cause I swear it's the sexiest thing I've ever heard and right now we need to figure this out," Danny teased her and smiled when he saw her head rise back up but instead of a smile he was greeted by a questioning expression.
"We?" Lindsay's voice wavered at the end, she scolded herself internally and repeated a silent mantra in her head that he didn't mean it like that, he didn't really want to help some small country girl sort out the biggest muck up since they all started.
"As long as you want me here…" Danny trailed off and for a moment felt oddly unwanted. His mind whirred with possible suggestions such as maybe she didn't want him there at all, maybe she thought he was sticking his nose in other peoples business and should bugger off. However all these thoughts vanished as her lips once more connected with his. She didn't quite know why she was kissing him yet again, it just felt right, like she should.
"I need to tell Jess," Lindsay muttered determinedly and she pulled out her mobile hesitantly. Being Jess's friend for as long as they could both remember meant Lindsay knew her inside and out, she would want to know and would want to be able to think about what to do next, but at the same time she would be happy in ignorance. After all the saying ignorance is bliss does hold some meaning to every person. Would you rather know your son doesn't belong to the man you love or would you just like to live thinking they did? Would you want to walk around knowing you've got an illness that is incurable and will kill you slowly or just live your life as you normal would? Decisions always have drawbacks, swings and roundabouts her mother would say. If you go on the swings, you have less time on the roundabout. If you go on the roundabout you have less time on the swings. You have to choose quickly and correctly. That's why Lindsay felt her fingers tap in the familiar number and hold the phone shakily to her ear. Danny pulled out his parking space and began to drive, he hadn't a destination in mind but with New York's traffic you always had time on your hands due to the regular jams.
"Jess, please pick up," Lindsay felt herself whisper into the receiver and Danny cast a sympathetic look, not one of sarcasm but one of true love and sadness.
"This isn't like her; she never has her phone off, never!" Lindsay cried out suddenly and Danny had to be careful not to smash the guy in front due to surprise, he hadn't heard Lindsay sound like that before and it wasn't something he wanted to hear again in a hurry.
"Here," he said passing his phone over "Try Don's home phone."
Lindsay held the mobile shakily in her hand a smiled gratefully despite the small tears threatening to fall that were building up in her eyes. Scrolling through a list of contacts Lindsay found the one she wanted and was surprised to hear a disconnected dial tone ring through.
"It's disconnected," Lindsay spoke quietly and she put the phone back on her lap, those threatening tears began their suicide mission to the ground as they slowly slid down her cheeks, some getting caught in her hair.
"Try his mobile Linds, come on we gotta tell them," Danny said encouragingly before making the decision to drive to his apartment, it was better then trawling around the interstate roads he thought without mentioning a word.
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A shrill ringing broke through the content silence that filled Don's apartment. Don and Jess sat quietly on the small sofa, both nursing a cup of coffee and had been passing smiles at each other for the past half an hour. Don sighed and went to move off the couch to get the screaming phone but Jess placed her arm on his fore-arm stopping him slightly. She the proceeded to simply smile before moving her arm and he got up and scanned the room for his phone.
Once finding it on in his jeans which were sprawled across the bedroom floor he picked it up and placed it to his ear.
"Detective Donald Flack," He answered and almost laughed when he heard Danny's distant voice in the background saying something along the lines of 'just cause he graduated from police academy he thinks it makes him Sherlock holms,'.
"Don is Jess there, I've called her mobile and everything I need to speak to her, it's urgent!" Lindsay's voice threw Don for a second and concern became etched upon his face. Walking slowly back into the living room Jess looked over worried.
"What is it?" She mouthed over and Don gave her a quick reassuring smile.
"It's for you, it's Lindsay," Don handed her the phone and the concern on his face did not change as he watched Jess greet her best friend.
Jess listened to her virtually hysterical friend for all of 10 seconds before she dropped the phone like it had some kind of infectious disease and she stared at it while it was on the floor, Lindsay's voice still drifting up from it.
"Jess?" Don asked in a panicked voice, rushing over to where Jess sat frozen still. The phone that still lay on the floor hung up; probably Danny's thinking Don managed to think as he shook Jess's shoulder gently.
"Jessie, what is it?" Don kneeled down so he was her height as she sat on the sofa and he lifted her face slowly upwards so he could look into her frightened eyes. Seconds seemed to pass before Jess blinked and then threw her arms around Don's neck, kissing every inch of his skin she could see.
"Jess," He breathed holding her steady as she continued to kiss him, her hands running through his hair and her lips leaving invisible marks of heat and thrill on Don's skin.
"Lucian, he's a guy my father knows, just like my father. Thinks that women shouldn't be able to work, should stay at home and look after all the children. He believes if a woman is pregnant within a year of marriage she is useless, he wants to marry me and he has dad's permission. I can't believe dad would do that to me, why? I hate Lucian to hell, why would he do this to me!" Jess was nearly shrieking at the end she could feel Don shaking in sadness underneath her hands.
"Jessie baby, he isn't going to touch you I swear," Don promised her lifting a hand to stoke her hair soothingly. He stood up at that moment and Jess's face fell at the loss of contact. Don then bent down and picked her up, bridal style, before sitting down on the sofa her now in his lap. Jess leant up and rested her head against his compact chest and she let out a small sigh.
"Oh god Don, what in hell can we do?"
Toasty here,
Please let me know what you think, this chapter took ages to get right and I'm still not convinced so any constructive criticism is really really appreciated. Thanks to all you guys that review so much, I love you guys so much :D! I'm so tired; I've been up since 3pm yesterday and haven't slept since, sooo tired. Gotta love British weather, I swear I was born to deal with pure rain.