Hi guys! Look at this, I'm back again! I had a bit of a writing session on this chapter last night and figured why not post it rather than keeping hold of it to myself! haha. We're nearly getting to the DL lovin'; I just need to write it and Fred's been busy elsewhere in M rated land. Oh spoiler alert for a new oneshot? maybe ;)
I just want to say once again how THANKFUL I am for all you guys still reading and reviewing. it's like with every chapter I post I'm surprised when people read and review. It's just an amazing feeling and I honestly can't get enough of refreshing my inbox and getting that little bit of love from you guys. So thank you so, so much. I am so glad you're enjoying this story.
This chapter is a little more centred on DL and as always Fred went off on a tangent and wouldn't have any of me trying to regain control so I let him be. He clearly wanted to venture into a different territory than we originally agreed on, but whatever dudeee.
Alright, I'll stop rambling. I hope you guys like this one! :)
But I don't want good and I don't want good enough, I want can't eat, can't sleep, can't breathe without your love. Front porch and one more kiss; it doesn't make sense to anybody else. Who cares if you're all I think about, I've searched the world and I know now it's ain't right if you ain't lost your mind. I don't want easy, I want crazy.
-I want crazy, Hunter Hayes.
Yawning heavily, Lindsay smiled at Danny as he peered over at the two chairs they'd pushed together. On them, was Lucy sleeping soundly with Danny's tuxedo jacket draped over her acting as a cover.
"She's zonked out," Danny smirked as the music still played softly in the background. The majority of guests had left now. "My mom's on her way to get her."
"I feel bad," Lindsay frowned heavily as she ran her hand over Lucy's hair, smoothing it over. "Your Mom doesn't need to be driving back and forth for us."
"She wanted to," Danny reassured her. "Plus Linds, you know…"
"I know," She nodded. "But we could have done that at home."
"Yeah but when else do we get the chance to take a night for ourselves… and in a hotel?"
"I just… I don't know; is it not completely obvious what we're doing?"
"So what if it is?" Danny implored.
"Well, your poor Mom-"
"Linds, trust me, she loves watchin' her."
"I'm not talking about that." Lindsay smirked. "I'm more concerned about the idea of your mother driving back to Staten Island with the image of us having sex in her mind."
"She thinks we're too innocent."
"She's not stupid," Lindsay lamely pointed to her stomach and then towards Lucy. "I'm not exactly the virgin Mary."
"Well, it's too late now." Danny smirked as he looked down to his phone. "She's here."
Lindsay rolled her eyes as she stood, rubbing her back as she did so. The strenuous activities from the day had taken its toll on her and her pregnant self. She'd not been on her feet and in heels for so long for a long time.
"Let me get that," he whispered, passing Lindsay his jacket from Lucy's little body. He then reached underneath the table to grab Lucy's overnight bag and passed it to Lindsay who flung it over her shoulder as she watched Danny pick Lucy up and settle her against his shoulder. She stirred ever-so-slightly before settling back into sleep. Danny held his hand in Mac's direction, who nodded and smiled as they exited the Banquet room and headed into the foyer of the hotel, where Danny's mom was waiting with a smile on her face.
"Well, don't you two look stunning." She smiled proudly. "You clean up nice, son. Not to mention Lucy is quite the accessory."
"Lindsay picked it out for me." He rolled his eyes as his mother stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek.
"Don't even get me started about her," Elizabeth winked at Danny. "One of these days you know, kid, she's gonna realise what she married and run for the hills. She's too good for you."
"Thanks a lot, Ma." He scoffed as he opened up the door with his back and held it open for Lindsay and his Mom.
"You look beautiful, Lindsay," She smiled brightly at her daughter-in-law. "That dress. Wow."
"Thanks Beth," Lindsay giggled at her mother in law's exuberance. "Don't be so hard on him though, he's not all that bad."
"Hmmm," Elizabeth pursed her lips together as Danny opened up the car and placed Lucy carefully in her car seat. "I guess he's doin' pretty good as a Dad."
"Will you stop?" Danny scoffed over his shoulder. "We've had a nice night, you're ruinin' the atmosphere. Quit."
"I'm only winding you up." She smirked, winking in Lindsay's direction. "Listen; don't rush tomorrow morning, ok? I've got things we can do together, the pipsqueak and I. She'll be entertained."
"I don't doubt that for a minute," Danny rolled his eyes. "Just don't give her so many cupcakes this time, Mom. She wouldn't eat her dinner last time."
"Please, Danny… She's my granddaughter; you know I can't help it."
"Well at least try." He growled. "Come on, you would have gone crazy if Nonni would have fed me up with cannolis."
"She did, and I went crazy with her. It's all part of being a parent, Danny."
"I swear to God," he grumbled in Lindsay's direction. "Listen, we're going… please, just… just try and remember what it was like to be a Mom. Forget about being Nanna for a minute, ok?"
"No can do." Elizabeth smirked. "But maybe we'll limit the cupcake consumption, just because you asked so nicely. Have fun. Lock the hotel door. Put your wallet in the safe."
"Mom," Danny rolled his eyes, "We're not leaving the room."
"Danny," Lindsay elbowed him. "Too much information." She growled in his ear as Elizabeth settled in the driver's seat.
"I know, I know," Elizabeth turned with a knowing smile on her face. "Just… enjoy yourselves. See you tomorrow afternoon, okay?"
"Alright," Danny smiled, wrapping his arm around Lindsay. "Thanks Ma, we owe you."
"No you don't." she shook her head as she shut her door carefully and indicated her way out into the traffic of the New York night.
They watched her disappear down the street with their little girl. They shared a look between the two of them on the street before sighing heavily and turning on their heels together.
"Wanna go and get our things, say bye to Mac and Christine and get a room?"
"Sounds good to me," she said, "My shoes have killed me today."
"I told you not to wear heels." He smirked.
"Heels looked nicer."
"You'd look nice in a garbage bag."
Lindsay scoffed at his remark and rolled her eyes. "Just get in there," she said, swatting his ass as they climbed the stairs of the hotel together.
Upon returning to the room where Mac and Christine had celebrated their wedding with family and friends, Lindsay had cast a soft smile in the direction of Danny as she listened carefully to the music being played.
"Hey, this sounds familiar." He said as he took her hand and linked their fingers together.
"Because it's the song we were dancing to at the beginning of the night."
"The one we danced our first dance to?"
Lindsay nodded with a giggle.
"I know you're tired but, Lindsay Messer, would you dance with me one last time tonight?"
"Always." She whispered as she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He returned the kiss by pressing a delicate kiss to the tip of her nose, before leading her to the dance floor.
Lindsay smiled as she peaked out from where she was stood behind Danny as he weaved them in and out of the tables scattered across the room. The only two on the dance floor were now Mac and Christine, locked in each other's eyes and talking in hushed tones that only the other could hear. As Danny and Lindsay made it to the floor, Christine laughed in response to something. They watched together as she threw her head back in laughter before pressing her hand against Mac's chest with a smile as she pressed her lips against his.
"They're so cute," Lindsay sighed wistfully as she turned her eyes to Danny. "Do you think people look at us and think we're that cute?"
"I think they think we're cuter; especially when we got Lucy in tow." Danny smirked playfully as he took her hand and placed it on his shoulder before placing his free hand on her back, holding her close. "We have the added bonus of going through all the things that are supposed to tear a couple apart and we came out stronger. When people know that, and they look at us we get that wistful look Linds, don't you worry."
"I'm not worrying," she corrected him. "Just wondering," she was quiet for a moment as her hand slipped from his shoulder and laid to rest on the small of his back; coincidentally where he'd been shot all those years ago. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?" she asked, making small, rubbing gestures over his shirt. "To dance with me and Lucy; this is what made you work hard in therapy. It was so you wouldn't miss things like this."
"Partly the reason." He whispered as she laid her head against his chest and he held it in place with his hand as they swayed in time to the music together. "But the other reason is because of how much I absolutely love you and I knew how much it was killing you inside to see me like that."
"I just knew you were in pain, and that's what hurt me."
"I know." He whispered. "But pain is the payment for each precious thing, and I had a lot to pay for."
"Alright, where did you get that from?" she implored, looking up at him with her glistening brown eyes. "Because I know you, Daniel Messer and Shakespeare is something you are not."
"Hawkes." Danny said simply. "Hawkes said it and it made sense to me."
"I'm glad it makes sense to you, because even after Literature classes in high school and college it still makes no sense to me."
"Well, I take it to mean that in order to protect your precious things, you've gotta hurt and work hard to do it. You know?"
"No, I have absolutely no idea." She shook her head.
"Alright," he sighed as he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Let me break this down here. I guess…" he paused as he thought about the way in which he could word it. "Alright, you and Lucy are precious, right? You're my entire world."
Lindsay nodded against him.
"Right okay, so because of that, when I got shot, it would have been real easy to stay in the wheelchair and let things happen as they were supposed to. Let nature take its course you know? If I got the feeling back, than so be it… if I didn't; it wasn't meant to be. But that would have only been easy if it had just still been me. With you and Lucy, it was harder than that. You guys needed me and I needed you to need me; but you couldn't rely on me when I was in the wheelchair. Everything was loaded onto you and it was you runnin' around lookin' after the both of us… So I guess what I'm sayin' is it wasn't an option to let nature run its course; I needed to deal with the pain. That pain was a result of me pushin' myself for you guys. You needed me to get better and I needed you to need me. Pain is the payment for each precious thing. The pain I felt was me payin' for everything that you are."
"You've had a lot of time to think about this."
He nodded. "It wasn't ever gonna be easy, but we made it."
"Against the odds." Lindsay added. "There was definitely someone up there that wanted to test us."
"Maybe so, but look at us now." He smiled at her as he pressed a kiss to her temple as a new tune began playing from the band. "I wouldn't change one moment of our life together so far."
"Even when it got really crazy?" she asked. "Even some of the decisions we've made?"
"Even then." He said. "I mean there are things I wish I hadn't done to you." He said, holding a finger underneath her chin so that she was looking him in the eyes. "I kick myself all the time for what I did to you. You didn't deserve it… but I wouldn't change it because if I had the chance to change what happened, and it changed who we were now, I'd hate myself for it."
"I guess." She frowned. "Although even if it changed us, I'd still change what happened." She said softly. "Even though I know you were in a really bad place, and you weren't even thinking of me at the time, it still hurts sometimes. It hurts to know what you did."
"I know." He said sombrely. It was a conversation they'd had only a few times and even though they had moved past it and were stronger because of it, sometimes the insecurities and the betrayal reared their ugly heads.
"I love you." He whispered against her forehead as he pressed a kiss to her warm skin. "And I'm sorry, baby."
"I know you are." She whispered as she buried her face into his dress shirt. He listened to her, dreading the sound of sniffles; but instead heard one single sniff. "And I love you too."
"Baby, please don't cry. I'm sorry we got onto this… I-"
"I'm not crying," she cut him off. "I'm inhaling your scent." She said with a smile. "It hurts Danny, but it's not something I need to cry about."
"Oh." He said, his lips twisting in confusion. "Why did you… smell me?"
"Because you still smell like you smelt eight years ago."
"You remember how I smelt eight years ago?" He asked incredulously.
She nodded avidly. "Well, it's really seven years ago." He could see by the look in her eyes that she was about to lose herself in a story. "It was on the Holly's case, you know when I went to do the drop and you were so pissed with me."
"Pissed? That's an understatement… I nearly killed you, Montana. You've driven me crazy right from the beginning."
"I might drive you crazy, but you wouldn't have it any other way would you?" Lindsay licked her lips in amusement.
"Nope," he sighed heavily. "I didn't sign up for easy."
She giggled. "So, when it all went down and I dropped the flash bang grenade and was laid on the floor with that girl, I was hoping you'd be the first person I saw."
"You did?" he mused, fascinated with the way that she talked and how she seemed to effortlessly switch the conversations back and forth.
She nodded. "You were my partner. You still are. But back then, you made me feel safe more than anyone. I trusted you, even if you did tease me relentlessly."
"I can't believe that," he said in awe. "For real?"
She nodded. "And when you picked me up and pulled me into that hug, I took a deep breath to try and calm myself down but rather than getting any air, all I inhaled was you and your scent. It was like this aftershave scent that had worn off so it was only lingering. And I found it calmed me down… And smelling you now," she pressed her face against his chest and inhaled his scent. "It smells exactly the same."
"It's the little things with you, isn't it?"
She smiled softly as she laid her head against his shoulder. "You know when you said we make sense; we don't make a lot of sense in the things we say, do we? But when we're put together, we make perfect sense."
"Kinda like that sentence." He laughed.
They fell in a comfortable silence, both mulling over their last eight years together; battling through the tough times and triumphs they'd shared together. He could tell Lindsay wanted to ask him something as her mouth kept opening, but then she'd promptly closed it again and simply pursed her lips together… before it happening all over again.
"Go ahead." He chuckled at her.
"Go ahead what?"
"Ask me whatever you're wantin' to ask."
"When did you know you wanted to be with me?" she asked him softly.
"I swear, sometimes the stuff goin' through your head…" He trailed off. "You really wanna know?"
She nodded enthusiastically.
"I'm sure we've talked about this before," he shot her a confused look but shrugged and complied an answer together for her. "I guess I knew eight years ago; I just didn't know how strongly I felt about you back then. I knew I wanted you in anyway I could get you. Not because I thought you were beautiful or clever or kind or adorable; because god knows you're all those things. I wanted you because I knew that there was no-one else like you. I guess that's why I was so mean to you… I could tell you liked the teasin', despite your numerous protests, and I figured that any attention was better than no attention. And as we got closer and stuff, I knew I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like starting my day without you. And now I don't have to."
"You don't." she said softly. She licked her lips softly before standing on her tiptoes and pressing a hand against Danny's chest to steady herself. She positioned herself by his ear and whispered. "Listen, I wanna get out of here."
"You do?"
She nodded as she scraped her teeth across his ear. "Yeah, I need to show you how much I love you."
"Right now?" he asked with amused, arched eyebrows.
"Right now." She whispered.
And there we have it. Another chapter done and dusted. Like I said before, Fred insisted on this kinda content. Don't blame me. hahaha. But I think he's gonna make up for it with a bit of DL lovin'.
Huge thank you to you guys for reading. I really appreciate it. As always, my inbox is always open to your thoughts. Let me know what you thought :)