hey all :)

well, i had the house to myself today and didn't feel like making you wait any longer.

so here it is.

the moment you've all been waiting for.

FRIDAY NIGHT ! :)

reviews are always appreciated.

enjoy (:

Chapter 8

He stood in front of the open closet, clad in only a towel, hair dripping wet from the shower, trying to decide what to wear. If he wanted to impress them, he had to look his best. He had decided early on that his Flash costume was a little much, and it would probably just make everything awkward for all parties involved. Then again, the tuxedo was also out there. He was stuck trying to find the medium between the two extremes. Did he get dressed up, or was casual dress the way to go? He stared at the clothes wishing they would coordinate themselves when Flack walked in.

"Havin a little trouble there Danno?"

"Okay, so does the blue tie match the black shirt with the tan pants, or should I go for the powder blue shirt and the black pants?"

"Actually, I think you'd look better in pastels," Flack chuckled, noting how little fashion sense his friend had. "Dan, you're going to eat pizza with a four year old and her mother. Chances are you'll end up spillin somethin on yourself more than once. Just wear what ya got on, you look fine."

Danny stared down at his jeans, green polo, and black Converse that he had worn to work that day. Would this really work? This faded outfit that he had worn a thousand times over?

"Danny, trust me, if you think about this too much you'll end up over doin it. Just go and have a good time."

"Thanks man," Danny said as a grin crept onto his face.

"No problemo buddy. Now, don't stay out too late, no drugs, and make sure Bailey stays away from the Smirnoff. Kid gets wild if she knocks back too much of that stuff."

"Ha ha, very funny dad," he replied, grabbing his keys and heading out the door.

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Her tiny fingers grasped the small glass tube, trying to pinpoint exactly where the red liquid inside it stopped. She furrowed her eyebrows in frustration.

"Mommy, what does this say?" she asked pointing at the numbers.

"One hundred and one," Lindsay groaned as the child felt her forehead. Whatever Bailey had just gotten over, she had given straight to Lindsay. And Danny would be there in 20 minutes.

"Here, take this," Bailey half demanded, shoving the red bottle of Children's Motrin and a spoon in her mother's face.

"Thanks Bay, but I don't think this is gonna make me feel any better."

"But you have to get better," the little girl whined. "Danny's gonna be here soon, and if you're sick, we won't be able to watch Flash!"

"I'm so sorry baby girl, I think we're going to have to postpone our little party," she replied wiping away the tears that were forming in Bailey's eyes. Bailey plopped down on the opposite end of the couch and began to cry silently. She had been looking forward to this all week, and now it would be another month until they both had the same night off. Lindsay hated disappointing her little girl, but she felt like crap, and she could barely keep her eyes open. She began to doze off as she felt the little girl get up, dreaming that she wasn't lying half dead on her couch.

Bound and determined to still have her Friday night of fun, Bailey began rummaging through the kitchen. She knew her mother kept the phone number to the pizza place there somewhere. She brought a kitchen chair over to where the phone was hung on the wall and attempted reading the speed dials scribbled out next to it. Although she was only four years old, she was smarter than the average child, and could make out the word "pizza" written next to the number 7. She picked up the phone, pressed the number with her index finger, and waited for the ringing on the other end of the phone to be replaced by the voice of the pizza man.

"Hi Tony, this is Bailey!"

"Hiya kiddo. You and your mommy orderin another pizza this weekend?"

"Yeah, Danny is coming over later and we're gonna watch the Flash and have a party."

"Danny? You talkin about Danny Messer?" Even the pizza delivery guy knew about Danny. After all those years, she still ordered from the same take-out place they would order from after long nights at work when they were both too exhausted to cook.

"Yeah I think that's his name. But we're gonna have a lot of fun. He's bringing his comics over and everything!"

"Sounds good kid," he said with a chuckle, both at the enthusiasm in the little girl's voice and at the fact that Danny Messer was back in town. "So do ya want the usual?"

"Pepperoni with extra cheese please!"

"You got it kiddo. Tell your mommy it'll be $16.75."

"Ok. Bye Tony!"

"Talk to you later kid."

With her first task accomplished, she set out to ready the rest of the house. With the plates and cups being on the top shelves of the higher cabinets, she improvised and found the cake plates from her last birthday party, Flash themed of course, with cups to match. She set them out on the table, as well as napkins and apple juice. She then made her way into the living room, taking the Flash DVD's off the shelf and lining them up in order in front of the television. Now, all she had to do was wait.

She grabbed the remote and turned the tv on, careful to make sure the volume was on low so she wouldn't wake her sick, sleeping mother. Halfway into her episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, there was a small knock at the door. She jumped up, excited as ever, and dragged a chair to the door, climbed up, and stared through the peephole, seeing a nervous looking Danny, holding a stack of comic books in one hand and a small bouquet of daisies in the other.

"Danny!" she quietly exclaimed as she jumped off the chair, shoving it across the room as she opened the door.

"Hey kiddo," he said as she wrapped her arms around his legs.

"Hi Danny! I'm so happy you came!"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world. I've been lookin forward to this all week. Where's your mommy at?" Looking around the apartment, he noticed that Lindsay was nowhere to be found.

"Shh. She's sleeping on the couch. She got my flu."

"Aww really? Well that's not good," he whispered, setting the flowers and comic books down on the counter as he quietly walked over to the couch and kneeled down to stare at Lindsay's sleeping figure. She looked so peaceful, no matter how sick she was. He had always loved watching her sleep.

"Should we wake her up?" Bailey asked, joining Danny next to the couch.

"I don't know kiddo. Maybe we should let her sleep."

"But she's gonna miss out on all the fun!"

"I know, but if she's sick, maybe sleepin'll make her feel better." Noticing the hurt expression in the little girl's eyes, he had no choice. "Alright, alright, I'll try. But I'm not promisin anything. Hey, Montana," he whispered, putting his face a little closer to hers. "Montana, I'm here. We can't start this party without you."

"Mhm," Lindsay muttered, turning in her sleep and letting out a cough that sounded like it pained her.

"I'm sorry kiddo, I don't think she's wakin up anytime soon. But we can have fun on our own for a little while, right?" he asked her as he gently draped a blanket across Lindsay's now shivering body.

"I guess so. But I wish mommy would wake up."

"So do I, believe me," he replied, standing up as he watched Lindsay dream. His thought were jarred by the tiny fingers that grabbed his hand.

"Wanna see my room?"

"Sure kiddo," he chuckled as he led him to her bedroom. There were pictures of Bailey everywhere, plastered on both sides of the hallway. Bailey as a toddler, Lindsay and Bailey on Christmas, their family photo from that year, as well as various others. There was, however, one that stood out to him in particular. It had been taken the day she was born. Lindsay was sitting up in her hospital bed staring down at the little bundle in her arms, tears in her eyes and a look of wonder and amazement on her face as the little baby girl stared back up at her with wide eyes. It made him smile, she looked so natural holding the baby girl. She had that mother's glow radiating around her, and he couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like had he been there with her.

As he entered Bailey's bedroom, he was somewhat shocked by the amount of contrast there was displayed throughout the little room. The walls were pink, not too bright to blind his eyes, but not quite the color one would expect to find in a baby's room. Just the right shade of pink for any little girl that dreamed of being a princess. Her bed--a tiny little thing, just like her--was draped with a Disney Princess comforter, but a Yankee's blanket was folded neatly at the end of it. There was a nightstand next to the bed, white oak just like the rest of the furniture. On it, there was a picture of Bailey and Lindsay, from the previous summer. Lindsay had made the mistake of letting Bailey have her own ice cream treat from the ice cream man, and both girls had ended up with chocolate beards. There was also a Yankee lamp and a tiny baseball mitt on the table as well. At the end of her bed was a basket stuffed to the top with stuffed animals of every kind, and a pink and white hamper next to it. He laughed as he saw the plush Flash doll and cape seated prominently on her bed. As he further scanned the room, he had to wonder, where were the pictures of Cameron in all of this? Maybe she was a mommy's girl. He didn't know, but his thoughts were interrupted by the small child tugging on his pants leg.

"Wanna see my preschool picture?"

"Why not?"

He sat down on her bed as she crawled into his lap, clutching a photo in her hand. "This is Kara, and this is Mike, and this is Julie, and this is Tommy. But no one likes him. Even the teacher." He laughed as she made it a point to make him realize that he was the hated child in the class. But he knew the signs. She had a crush on this boy. He couldn't help but laugh as he thought of Lindsay dealing with her baby girl's first crush. She continued naming off each and every child in her class, stopping only to especially point out her best friend Anna, as well as herself, wearing a pink jumper and white turtleneck underneath, hair in pigtails with matching pink ribbons, looking cute as ever with her toothy grin. As she finished up the naming of the children, she was about to switch to her t-ball team photo when there was another knock at the door.

"The pizza man's here!" she announced excitedly, hopping off Danny's lap. He was disappointed that his quality time with Lindsay's little girl had sort of ended, until she grabbed his hand and pulled him along. "Come on! You've gotta meet Tony!"

"Tony?" he questioned as they opened the door together.

"Danny?" The tall, Italian pizza delivery boy stood outside the apartment, wearing the same shirt and hat he had worn when Danny had still lived there, right down to the smudge in the lettering on the baseball cap.

"Hey Tony. Long time no see."

"Yeah really Messer. 'S been a while huh?"

"Yeah, yeah too long Tony. So, are you still screwin up the orders like ya used to?"

"Hey now Messer, don't be givin me crap in front of my best customer," Tony said grinning down at Bailey. "This kid is one hell of a pizza eater."

This earned a giggle from Bailey. "He said the 'h-word' Danny."

"Yeah, and don't you go repeatin that, your mother would have my head."

"Speakin of Linds, where's she at? I gotta get paid somehow," Tony asked, peering around Danny and Bailey to scan the apartment for Lindsay.

"She's sleepin on the couch. I guess she caught the flu. She usually leaves the money out on the table, but I didn't see any when I came in. Here, I'll pick it up for her. How much do I owe ya?"

"$16.75. Plus my tip."

"Well here's a tip, try brushin your teeth every once in a while, maybe you'll actually get a date." Bailey began to giggle again as Danny fished the money out of his wallet, exchanging the bills for the pizza box.

"Thanks Messer. See ya around."

"Same to you bud. And hey, seriously, brush your teeth, you got a nasty stench comin from your mouth," he replied, trying to get another laugh out of Bailey. When his wish was granted, it made him laugh as well, and they were still giggling and cracking jokes about the pizza man when they heard Lindsay begin to stir.

"Well good morning Sleeping Beauty. Have a nice nap? You owe me 20 bucks."

Lindsay was slightly confused as to what was going on. She remembered falling asleep, she remembered dreaming that Danny was there, but she never actually recalled opening the door and letting the real Danny inside. She smiled as she looked into the kitchen, seeing Danny and Bailey eating pizza off of cardboard Flash plates and drinking apple juice out of Green Lantern party cups. She hadn't ordered a pizza, had she? What a little sneak her daughter was.

"Hi mommy! Look! Danny's here and now we have pizza! Are you feeling better?"

"Hey baby girl. I'm still feelin a little crummy but I think I'm getting better. The nap helped. Hi Danny."

"Hey Montana. You up for some pizza or do you think it'll make you puke? Cause quite frankly, I wasn't really plannin on cleanin chunks of barf outta my clothes tonight."

This made Bailey burst out into laughter. Lindsay cocked her head to the side, trying to give him an angry look, but falling into the contagious laughter that now filled the apartment. She wrapped the blanket around body and made her way over to the table, taking a seat on the other side of Bailey.

"I think I'll pass on the pizza for now. I don't want you to have to do any extra laundry," she said, shooting him a playful stare.

"Well I appreciate your concern. You feelin any better? You want me to get you some medicine or somethin?"

"No I think I'll be fine," she replied with a nasty cough.

"Whoa there Montana, you sure you don't want anything for that cough? I don't want you to get sicker than you already are."

"It's okay Danny, really, I'll be fine."

"You aren't just wimpin out cause you don't like the taste, are ya? Listen to this kid, I remember this one time, we were at work right? And your mom was dying of the flu, but she refused to go home. So I'd been trying and trying to get her to take some medicine, and finally she just takes the bottle and throws it away, and ends up with strep throat the next day. So I go over to see her and it turns out she wouldn't take the medicine I gave her cause she hates the taste. She was like a little kid, no offense to you or anything."

"Really mommy? You wouldn't take it because it tasted funny? I always take my medicine," she said matter-of-factly.

"Way to rat me out to my own kid Messer, thanks a lot," Lindsay said to Danny.

"It's okay mommy, I still love you, even if you are a wimp."

Danny began to laugh so hard that the apple juice he was drinking spewed from both his mouth and nose all across the table. After he had sprayed majority of the pizza he and Bailey were eating with juice, Lindsay and Bailey stared at him for a moment before they too erupted out in laughter. After a good ten minutes, they all finally calmed down enough to throw the destroyed pizza away and clean up the kitchen. Danny realized his shirt was as equally as soaked as the kitchen table had been.

"Hey Montana, you think I could borrow one of Cameron's shirts?"

Lindsay's face dropped.

Shit.

He still thought they were together, didn't he?

Her biggest fear, though, was that Bailey would say something.

"Bay sweetie, why don't you go get your pajamas on so we can watch the movie?"

"Okay! Danny do you wanna help me pick which ones I should wear?"

"Sure kiddo, I'll be there in a second." He eyed Lindsay, noticing the fear in her eyes. "Hey, if you don't want me to borrow one a his shirts, it's okay. I'm sorry for askin."

"No no, its fine, just let me go find one. Why don't you go with Bailey while I go look."

He followed her down the hallway, and they were nearly touching the entire walk. He was purposely speeding up and she was purposely slowing down, both of them hoping to "accidentally" touch before they parted into separated rooms. He was surprised when she stopped, and he became so close that he could feel the subsiding fever radiating off of her back.

"Montana, you're warm," he said as she turned around. "Why don't you just go to bed? I'll get Bailey in bed and I can go home early, it's no big deal."

By now, their faces were centimeters apart. He could feel her breath on his face, as could she feel his. He was about to reach up and brush the hair out of her face when he heard his name being called from the next room.

"Danny! Are you going to come help me?"

"I'd better get that," he whispered against her cheek. "I'm coming kiddo."

Their fingers brushed as he walked away, sending an energetic pulse up his arm.

"So, what have we got here?"

"Well, I have three, but I don't know which ones to wear." Bailey was standing in front of her bed with her hands on her hips staring at her choices.

"I have my Flash pajamas, my Barbie pajamas, and my Speed Racer pajamas."

"Wait. Speed Racer? Kid, have you been takin lessons from your mom or something?"

"What? I love speed racer. His car is awesome!"

"The Batmobile is so much better." Now he had his hands on his hips. He was about to square off with a four year old.

"What are you talking about? The Mach 5 has a rotary saw, AND a monkey!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! I'll even show you." She began rummaging through her closet, and came up with a small replica of the Mach 5, complete with a pop-out rotary saw and Chim Chim the monkey coming out of the trunk.

"Well, I can't argue with that can I? I guess I'll just have to get you a better car, let's say the Batmobile?"

"Danny, just face it, the Mach 5 is so much better." He turned around to see Lindsay standing against the door frame holding up a familiar looking Yankees t-shirt.

"You know what Montana, we will finish this later, I don't want you to have to lose in front of your kid," he said walking towards her with a smirk on his face.

"Oh really? Because I'm thinking you'd be the one to lose, and I don't think you want Bailey to have to see you get beat by a girl, do you?" she replied, tossing the shirt in his direction.

"This my shirt Montana?"

"You left it here. I figured I'd keep it in case you ever wanted it back." In the back of her mind, she was grateful that he had left some of his clothes in the drawers that they had at one time shared. When she would start thinking about him, she would sometimes put one of them on, and she could still smell his scent that had faded into the fabric. It got her through the night sometimes.

"Well I appreciate it. Bay, I think you should wear the Flash ones, they'll go good with our theme. As for you Montana, I think you should put this on," he said throwing the t-shirt back at her. "The virus might still be on those clothes, best you get out of um, no?"

He gave her a grin, and she smirked back at him. She turned back across the hall to change and he walked out of the room to let Bailey put her pajamas on, and headed back into the kitchen. As he was fingering through his comics, trying to decide which one he should show Bailey first, a hand was suddenly dropped on his shoulder.

"Those flowers for me?" she whispered in a voice that brought him back to the old days. It made him want to take her up in his arms and make her his, and that cause wasn't much helped when he turned around to see her standing there in a pair of cotton shorts and his t-shirt. She had always looked good in his shirts. It took all of his willpower not to kiss her right then and there.

"Uhh, yeah, yeah they're for you, for letting me come tonight. I really love that kid. So, thanks." He awkwardly thrust the flowers to her, and she laughed as she took them from his hands and put them in a vase.

"No Mr. Messer, thank you. You really made her happy tonight."

At this news, he couldn't help but smile. Just the thought of making Lindsay's daughter happy was enough to make him the happiest man alive. As they stood there staring at each other, Bailey made her way back into the kitchen as well, wearing her short sleeved Flash pajamas.

"So are we ready?"

"Sure are kiddo. Which one do you wanna watch?" Danny said as they all made their way into the living room.

"How about the one with the magician?"

"Sounds good to me."

She popped the DVD into the player and settled herself cozily between Danny and Lindsay on the couch.

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The movie ended and Bailey more than protested when her mother began to tell her that their night was fun was coming to an end.

"But mommy, I'm not even tired. And Danny has all these comics and we didn't even read any of them."

"Well I'll let you borrow um for a little while, there's no rush," Danny replied, not wanting the little girl to be too upset at his departure.

"But I wanted to read one with you," Bailey protested.

"Tell ya what. If you can get your mommy to agree, I'll read one to you as a bedtime story."

"Oh please mommy? Please please please?!" she begged, her big blue eyes more than irresistible.

"Now how could I say no to that face? Alright, alright, you win. Go ahead and pick one out."

"Yay!" Bailey yelled excitedly as she made her way over to the counter to choose her comic. After about five minutes, she made her selection and handed it to Danny, taking his hand with one of hers and Lindsay's with the other. She led them to her bedroom, taking a seat on her bed and patting the mattress on either side of her as a cue for them to take a seat as well.

Danny read the comic with all the different voices of the Flash, the Green Lantern and various other characters, receiving laughs from both Bailey and Lindsay. When the story was over, Bailey yawned and rubber her eyes.

"Thanks for such a fun night Danny." She put her tiny arms around his body and gave him a kiss on the cheek, making him blush and start grinning like an idiot. Hugging her back, he replied, "No problem kiddo. I had a real fun time tonight too. Hope we can do it again soon."

"Me too," she yawned as they tucked her in together and turned the light off.

They exited the room in silence, walking side by side down the hallway, their arms touching, their hands close to being together.

"Danny, thanks again, and I'm sorry about your shirt."

"Ahh it's alright, don't worry about it. I got plenty more back at Flack's. You know, I really had fun tonight. This was nice."

"It was. Bailey adores you, you know. She hasn't stopped talking about you all week."

"And I adore her. She's amazing Linds. You've done a great job with her."

She didn't know what to say. She just stood in the foyer staring at him, wishing he would take her in his arms.

"Well, I better get goin. And you, little missy, take some cough medicine and go to bed. We can't afford you not being around the lab, and that little one can't take care of herself.""Alright dad," she laughed. "I'll see you on Monday then?"

"Monday it is. G'night Linds."

"Night Danny."

With newfound courage, he wrapped his arms around her. It wasn't a lover's hug, it was a friendly hug. They both knew it, but it was still a nice way to end the night. She returned the gesture and they stood in the embrace for a few moments before pulling away, both still feeling a tingling warmth where the other had been.

"I'll see ya later," Danny said as he timidly smiled, backing out the door.

She could hear him yell "BOOM!" as he made his way down the hall, and she couldn't help but laugh. Making her way back into the kitchen, she pulled one of the daisies out of the vase and moved it up to her nose. She could smell his shampoo through the scent of the flower. Not wanting to wake Bailey up with her cough, she reluctantly took the medicine as Danny had ordered her and decided to take refuge on the couch for the night. Cuddling up in his old shirt, the flower still clutched in her hand, she fell asleep with his face still vivid in her mind.

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The entire ride home, he still had that goofy grin on his face. He still couldn't get over the fact that he had just spent an entire night joking and having fun with Lindsay and her precious little girl. And he had even gotten a hug at the end of the night. He walked into Flack's apartment still smiling, and whistling a songless tune. Flack had been watching the Yankees game when the young man entered and couldn't resist laughing at his happy friend.

"Have a good time Danno?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

With a toothy smile, he turned around and headed to the guest room.

He plopped down onto his bed and went to sleep with a smile on his face.

Things couldn't get much better than this.