"Come up to meet you
Tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are

I had to find you
Tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart

Tell me your secrets
And ask me your questions
Oh let's go back to the start

Runnin' in circles
Comin' up tails
Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start"

- Coldplay ("The Scientist")

He doesn't want to do anything too brash or bold, like he usually is. Though that is what makes Danny Messer the man that he is. He is smart. He is arrogant. He is charming. Rolled together with his bad boy past, boyish good looks, a rakish smile and clear blue eyes, it is difficult for any woman to resist his wiles once he sets his sights on them. Therefore, it is no wonder that he has seduced plenty of women in the past with his blessed features. But now, he is on unfamiliar territory. He is unsure of how to use his skills or talents this time around.

He ponders how to pursue a woman he is in love with. He must plan this out to perfection. Long ago, Mac had told him that it could happen to him. Marriage. Love. Danny had actually reprimanded his boss, telling him not to joke about that. That it wasn't funny. Love. Marriage. Those were two words that usually sent him scurrying for his clothes, running for the door with empty promises to call later. But then Lindsay Monroe walked into his life and turned his world upside down. He became infatuated with this one woman. He felt things he had never felt before her. Heck, he even almost asked her to marry him in the middle of a crime scene once.

He had wanted so badly to hate her when he first laid eyes on her. It was nothing personal. But his loyalties lay with Aiden Burn. She was a good cop and a damn fine investigator, even if she did bend the rules a little too far this time. Danny was determined that no matter who Mac hired to replace his good friend and former partner, they were never going to be good enough. Little did he know that in the end, he would fear that he wasn't good enough for her.

So after months of pursuing, after months of building trust with her, he strayed. He slipped back into his old life. He can claim that he did not realize how serious that they had become or that she was unable to support him emotionally, that she did not understand. But he knows that that is not the truth. Because the truth is that he was scared. Scared of wanting someone the way he wanted her. The feeling shook him to his very core. And then fear consumed him. Fear that she did not feel the same way about him. The feeling made him sick to his stomach. Then hatred. Hatred for her making him feel this way – vulnerable and insecure. The feeling blinded him with rage. Without thinking, without feeling, he punished her, cutting her so deeply he is unsure if she will ever fully heal.

But he hopes. So he starts off small with little gestures here and there. Little reminders, really. Reminders of how they were before the fallout, before they fell from grace. He catches her eye during briefings and holds her gaze. He throws her a small smile from across the lab. He drawls out her nickname to get her attention. He tries to be as close to her as humanly possible without actually touching her. All of this to reassure her that he is there. That he will always be there.

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A/N - Thank you to everyone who reads and/or reviews, but a special and huge thank you to afrozenheart412 for kick starting my muse again!