hey my readers :)

well, my vacation was pretty awesome. it was a lot warmer where i was than here, haha. but im glad to be back, i got back just in time for the new csi last night :)

and like i promised, i brought my notebook with me and worked on the next chapter.

i know youre all wondering what happened with Danny and Lindsay 4 years ago, and i promise im trying to work that in. it'll be up within the next couple chapters, i promise !

but for now, here's the next chapter, and i know you'll all be throwing m&m's at me when youre done reading, but it'll all be better in the end, promise :)

enjoy (:

Chapter 3

It was his turn to pace.

After crying until his tear ducts were beyond dry, and almost banging a hole in the floor of Flack's kitchen, he had finally calmed down enough to clean himself up. He took a shower, washing away the scent of alcohol and the tear stains, and afterwards, took a good, long look in the mirror. He had to do it; facing himself was the only way to start this trip down a hellish memory lane. He had to force himself to down the man that had left her standing alone in that apartment, the face that had brought so much turmoil into her life without causing him any of the after effects. That selfish, egotistic, arrogant face that had refused to accept defeat, that wouldn't let her in when he had needed her the most. In his time of need, he had turned her away, thinking it would be better for the both of them. But he was wrong.

God, was he wrong.

He had pushed her away when he needed her the most, in turn, hurting the both of them so deeply, he was afraid it was beyond repair. She was his rock, his anchor, and she had tried so hard to accept that fact that he had needed time. Obviously, the time he took had been far too much. How could he have been so stupid? He was dug in deep, and now, he was finally on his way of digging himself out. He had to comprise a way to approach this situation in the right manner; he had to do it in a way that wouldn't make her scared of him for good, but he also had to approach this aggressively. He wasn't going to let her go again, he had made that mistake once in his life already, and he sure as hell wasn't going to make it again. How exactly he was going to win her back, he was still unsure of.

So for now, he was pacing.

"Messer, what the hell are you doing, you're gonna put a hole through my floor."

"I'm just thinkin' Flack. I like to walk when I think, helps the creative juices flow better."

"Oh, so you're getting creative on me now? Don't go doing anything stupid, Danny. If you hurt Lindsay again, you know I will personally hunt you down and pummel your ass."

"No no, I know that Don, that's exactly why I'm thinkin. I gotta figure out a way to do this. I mean, what if she doesn't wanna see me? What if she won't talk to me Flack?"

"I don't think that's a 'what if' type of question, Danny. I know as well as you do that she's not gonna wanna talk to you or see you, right away anyway. You've just gotta give her time. You guys loved each other, you were crazy for each other, and I don't think any of that's changed. You just gotta give her the time to find that in herself again. When you left, she buried all feelings for you away. You really hurt her Dan. And now, she's just gotta get used to the fact that you're back in her life. Just give her time, I'm sure she'll come around."

The tears began to brim in Danny's eyes once again. He knew what Flack was saying was only the truth, he had hurt her, and she was probably going to slam the door more than once in his face before she finally accepted his presence.

"I know that Don, and you really don't understand how much it's killing me inside. I love her, I love her so much, and I hate that I hurt her and that she had to suffer like this. God, why'd I have to do it, Don?"

"I don't know Danny. I can't make your decisions for you. When you chose not to come back after that first month, we were all shocked, but none of us were gonna force you to come home. We just had to move on with our lives."

And right then, Don realized that at some point, he had to tell Danny about the man who had come to replace him.

He had to tell him about Cameron.

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"Mommy, look!" Bailey and Lindsay were enjoying a sunny, spring day at Bronx Zoo. She was completely enthralled by all the sights and sounds of the zoo; the animals, the food, just the overall experience was enough to make the smile on the little girl's face larger than life. Her eyes grew wider at ever corner they turned, and the fact that Bailey was having so much fun just made Lindsay's day that much more enjoyably. Just the sight of her daughter made her laugh. There was a mix of cotton candy, chocolate ice cream, and caramel corn all completely covering her face. After an hour of pouting, Lindsay had given in and had bought her a giraffe hat that was easily two-and-a-half foot tall, and that on her head was enough to make anyone giggle. They had made their way through majority of the zoo by three o'clock, making sure they had seen all of Bailey's favorite exhibits: they had seen the bears, the reptiles, the birds and the monkeys, and after much argument, Lindsay was eventually dragged into the mouse house. She never understood why her daughter had such a fascination with rodents, but she was determined to never have one living in her house.

They were getting to the point in the day where Bailey was about to crash. She was at that stage when she argued that naps were no longer necessary, but in the end she would always end up asleep in the backseat of the car. Nonetheless, the little girl was getting restless and Lindsay could see that she needed some rest. It had, after all been an exhausting day. After breakfast, Bailey had coaxed Lindsay into taking her to Toys 'R Us. Something about a new Flash action figure, and the fact that she "had to have it before Tommy from her preschool class did or she'd get picked on" was enough to convince Lindsay to take the trip. From there, Lindsay had to get her car washed, and lucky for her, Bailey loved to watch the colorful soap lather up on the hood of the car, so there was no fussing when she had brought the subject up. Bailey had opted out of eating at the zoo, telling her mom "I won't be able to eat with that funky smell around me." They had, instead, chosen to eat at the Burger King down the street. Finally arriving at the zoo, the pair had spent the day relaxing and enjoying the animals. Now the only thing left to do was to see Bailey's favorite animal, the tigers.

Lindsay had dreaded coming here all day. It was, in fact, the place where her first case had been, the place where she had first seen Danny. It was sure to strike a nerve in her. But thinking back to Flack's advice, she looked down at the excited little girl jumping and pointing at the tiger cage, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward.

She couldn't help but smile.

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"What if I took her to dinner on the Brooklyn Bridge, and had a bottle of champagne a red roses and the whole deal set up, and then got down on my knees and begged?"

Danny was still pacing around Flack's apartment. At this point, he was desperate to try anything, and if that meant stopping traffic in Brooklyn, he'd get it done somehow.

"Danny, listen to yourself. How in the hell are you gonna manage to get that done?"

"Ah, you're right, bad idea. It'd have to be wine wouldn't it?"

At this, Flack turned and gave him a look like he should be thrown in a mental institution. Danny had already been through two notepads of paper trying to come up with ideas on how to try and win Lindsay back, all of them winding up in a crumpled heap on the floor in Don's kitchen.

"Danny, I know you're desperate here, but come on. Listen to yourself here. Writing 'I'm Sorry' in the sky with an airplane? Renting out Central Park to set up a picnic? Or, my personal favorite, dinner on top of the Statue of Liberty? You do realize how ridiculous all of this sounds, right?"

"You're right Flack, you're absolutely right. I sound like a complete moron. But what am I gonna do? I hurt the girl I love, my life, my world. I hurt her so bad, Flack. And I gotta make that up to her in the best way possible. What am I gonna do to make this right again?"

"I don't know Danny. But you might wanna try talking to her before you go asking her to marry you."

"So you're saying I should just go over there and talk to her? Man, I wish I would have thought of that. Thanks man, I really appreciate it," Danny replied with a bright look on his face. Don, however, did not quite share the enthusiasm for this idea that Danny did. But before he could say anything, Danny was halfway out the door.

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As soon as they had gotten in the car, Bailey, with a new stuffed tiger on one hand and her new Flash action figure in the other, was out like a light. Lindsay couldn't help but grin at the sight of her daughter asleep in her booster seat. It amazed her how much energy the child could have one minute and how silent and still she could be the next. As she pulled out of the zoo, her phone began to ring. It was Cameron Burke, her partner, and the man that had taken Danny's place after he had left. She had grown a fondness of Cameron; he was such a great person, and he was always there to help him with Bailey when she had to work late. She knew she could never be interested in him romantically, but she knew he often thought otherwise. Maybe she should just give into him and accept his thousands of date requests. It wouldn't hurt to get back out there again. Plus, Bailey would need a father figure in her life eventually. Maybe Cameron was that guy. She sighed as she answered her phone.

"Hey Cameron."

"Hey Linds, how's your day off going?"

"It's going quite well, actually. We're on out way home, and I'll probably order the pizza when we get there. Are you still going to come eat with us?" It had been Bailey's idea to invite "Uncle Cameron" over for dinner. She adored him, and every time she got to see him was a privilege for her.

"Of course, you know how much I love spending time with you and Bailey. I'll see you around 6 then?"

"Sounds good, I'll see you then."

"Alrighty then Linds, I'll see you then."

She hung up the phone and looked at her sleeping daughter in the rearview mirror, sighing once again. Why couldn't every day be like this? Just the two of them, no work, no school, no worries. Just her and her daughter, free to enjoy their lives as they pleased. She knew that, of course, it couldn't be that way, that eventually she would have to make a living, but she wanted to savor this for as long as she could. Bailey would only be little for so long, and Lindsay wanted to make the most of that.

As she pulled into the apartment complex, Bailey began to stir.

"Are we home, mommy?"

"Yep we are sweetie. You woke up just in time to order pizza." They had ordered pizza so often from the same place that the man who took the orders knew them by name and face, so every time they ordered pizza, Lindsay would let Bailey do it. Hearing this news made the little girl perk up, rushing to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Can we get extra cheese?" she asked excitedly as she hurried through the door of the apartment complex.

"Sure Bay, anything you want, it's your day isn't it?"

The little girl just grinned as she pushed the button in the elevator to get to their floor.

"Uncle Cameron's coming, right?" she asked as she looked up at her mother.

"Yes he is, he'll be here just in time to have dinner with us."

"Good, cause I haven't talked to him in forever! I have to tell him about the zoo, and school, and my t-ball team!"

"Alright kiddo, but give him a chance to breathe while here's here, you don't want to scare him away with all your stories," Lindsay replied with a laugh.

They reached their apartment and Lindsay let Bailey order the pizza just as she had promised, with extra cheese and all. Around 6:15, there was a knock on the door, and Bailey opened it to reveal a man about 5'10", medium build with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He had a soft face, and everything about him screamed "family man". Bailey jumped into his arms before he was even through the door.

"Uncle Cameron, Uncle Cameron, I missed you!" the little girl shouted excitedly.

"Hey honey, I missed you too. It seems like I haven's seen you in forever."

"I know! I'm so happy you came over! We're gonna get pizza, and mommy said that maybe if you wanted to we could rent a movie and we could have a picnic in the living room!"

"Well, I'd be happy to stay late and party with my favorite girl in the world, but I have to work really early tomorrow. Can I take a rain check on that picnic kiddo?"

"Well, okay. But you have to promise we will sometime soon," she said with a saddened expression on her face.

"Tell you what. I have an even better idea. How about next weekend when I have off, I'll take you and your mom and we'll go have a real picnic in Central Park. Does that sound like a plan?"

Just like that, Bailey's mood was instantaneously brightened.

"Yeah! I like that idea. Don't you mommy? Can we go, can we?"

"Of course we can, sweetie." Lindsay couldn't refuse her daughter of a day in the park. Central Park was Bailey's favorite place to go. "Now let's say we sit down and have some of this pizza?"

The three sat down and began to have a great time, eating, chatting and relaxing. To the casual passerby, it would seem like a typical family night together.

-----------

Danny was going crazy.

His motorcycle wasn't going to sprout wings and fly over this traffic, and he was stuck in rush hour. He was trying to mentally prepare himself for when he arrived at her door, but he knew that all plans would just go out the window when he saw that beautiful face again. God, was he anxious as ever. It had been so long, and now, he was finally going to see her again, his Lindsay, the love of his life. He just had to win her back again, and everything would be okay.

He finally pulled up at the all too familiar apartment complex. The last time he had been here, he had been walking out the door. He could still see her, standing on the sidewalk waving, with tears in her eyes, as he pulled away. It sent a chill up his spine as he made his way up to the door, greeting the doorman, the same man that had let them in at 3 o'clock in the morning all those years.

"Danny Messer? Is that really you? Wow, I never expected to see you here again."

"Yeah, it's really me. I know I haven't been around much, but expect to be seeing more of me."

He decided to take the stairs, two at a time, up to her door.

This was it. He was finally going to see her again. With a newfound determination, he knocked on the door. He was ready. He was going to see Lindsay again, and he was suddenly filled with a new hope.

"Here we go."

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As she enjoyed the night with her coworker and daughter, Lindsay was suddenly interrupted, both by the ringing of her cell phone and a knock at the door. She got up from the table, leaving behind a debate between a 4 year old girl and a 33 year old over whether or not the Yankees would make it to the World Series that year.

"Hang on a second guys, I'll just be a minute," she said laughing as she removed herself from the table.

She looked down at her cell phone reading Call From Don Flack on the screen. She was off duty, what could he possibly be calling about? And then she remembered.

Danny.

She had been so distracted that day that she had completely forgotten. Answering the phone, she began to walk towards the door.

"Hey Flack, what's up?"

"Linds, he's--"

And as she opened the door, she realized why he had called her. Standing outside her door was the same man who had walked out 4 years ago and never returned.

Danny Messer was standing in front of her, as real as ever.

Almost like it was now part of her routine, she dropped her cell phone to the floor.

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When she opened the door, Danny was almost blown away. She hadn't changed a bit, unless it was possible for her to be any more beautiful. It was as if he had taken a trip down memory lane. So many countless things had happened right in this very apartment, and he was tempted to look in and get a better sense that this was actually happening.

But as he glanced over her shoulder, he caught a glimpse of what exactly had happened since he had left. And it sure as hell wasn't the picture he had seen in his mind.

Behind her, sitting at the table, was another man and a little girl, eating pizza and joking about one thing or another.

He had barely uttered out a "Hey Montana," before his emotions began to turn upside down.

What the hell was going on?