Chapter 7

Well, so much for a romantic date, Lindsay thought.

She could see the cigarette smoke wafting out the window of the Trans Am as they approached. "Daniel's driving us?" she asked Nick, hoping that maybe Nick was parked a little further down the street, that Daniel had just followed him.

But Nick was fairly oblivious to Lindsay's disapproval of Daniel being there. He was probably just excited that at least most of the gang would be hanging out together again for an evening.

"Yup, c'mon, Lindsay," Nick said as he opened the passenger's side door. He leaned in to tilt the seat forward, and then gestured with a wave of his arm for Lindsay to get into the backseat with him. But Daniel had other ideas.

"I'm not a chauffeur, Andopolis," Daniel said loudly, "So why don't you let Lindsay ride shotgun?"

Nick was at least 6'4"; he had Lindsay by a good foot, and his legs seemed to go on forever. Lindsay quickly spoke up. "No, Nick, you can sit up front; I'll take the back. Really," she emphasized, trying to scoot past Nick's still-outstretched arm. But Nick, always the gentleman, gently grabbed Lindsay's shoulders to reposition her towards the front seat. He instead climbed into the back himself, sprawling across both seats, and pulled the passenger's seat upright behind him. Daniel now gestured to the empty shotgun seat with a similar arm flourish.

Reluctantly, Lindsay climbed in. Immediately, Nick had aligned himself so that he was right behind her and started gently massaging her shoulders. Meanwhile, Daniel started accidentally-on-purpose touching Lindsay's leg while he was switching gears. Lindsay rolled her eyes and quickly moved her legs towards the window. She couldn't wait to get to the party where Daniel would have more receptive prospects.

When they arrived at Ken's, Lindsay's mood shifted again- she had really missed this, going out with her friends. It's not so much that she even minded taking calculus, or working for her dad- the hardest part of being grounded was the lack of the face-to-face socialization. Daniel stalked off once they settled in, but Nick stayed firmly by her side as she started catching up with people, with a grin on his face the whole time. They talked to Ken and Amy for a while, and she saw a few other people that she knew from school. But she was also content to talk with Nick alone- he didn't usually have so much to say, but so much had happened in their lives since they were really hanging out last. She asked him about his basketball league and new job he asked her about her brief stint on tour with the Dead.

Lindsay decided to drink some beer- she wasn't driving, she'd be sneaking back into the house so hopefully wouldn't be facing her parents anyway, and she had tomorrow off with relatively little homework. But she trying to be very careful not to drink too much- she could easily find herself alone with Nick tonight and didn't want to do anything she'd regret.

Daniel had more receptive prospects, all right, but it wasn't who Lindsay expected- Karen Scarfolli had shown up. Lindsay and Nick watched as Daniel strolled over to her and started up a conversation. Karen seemed indignant at first, but Lindsay had the suspicion it was all an act because Karen seemed to have always liked Daniel and was never that loyal a friend to Kim. Sure enough, it wasn't long before Karen was whispering in Daniel's ear. Daniel let her.

Karen putting her tongue in Daniel's ear was the breaking point. Maybe it was the slight beer buzz, but suddenly Lindsay found herself feeling like the need to confront them. Kim wasn't there to do the confronting and they were acting like a couple of sleazeballs. So Lindsay abruptly left Nick, Ken, and Amy where they were standing and walked straight up to Daniel.

"Um, can I talk to you for a sec?" she asked Daniel haughtily, grabbing his leather jacket at the shoulder, like a mom would. Daniel gave her a strange look but nodded in reply. She towed him to a somewhat-less-crowded area of the kitchen.

"Damn, Linds, it's fun to see you take control like that," Daniel said, slurring his speech slightly. He had obviously had a few beers in the time that they had been there. He grinned at her. "Nick's a lucky man."

Lindsay ignored his comment. "What are you doing with Karen? I mean, you know if you screw around with her again that Kim will never forgive you, right?"

"So?" Daniel retorted angrily. "What makes you think that I care?"

Lindsay tried to phrase her next sentence as delicately as she could, but there was really no way to sugar-coat it. "Daniel, no offense or anything, but I'm not sure you'll be able to find someone as good to you as Kim is. Why not just go back and apologize to her for whatever it was that you messed up?"

"What makes you think that I messed up?"

"Because you usually do," Lindsay replied matter-of-factly.

Daniel grabbed her jacket by the shoulders this time, held her firmly. For an instant, it intimidated the hell out of her. But before anyone else could notice, Daniel had let her go again. "Just tell me the truth, Lindsay," he said, beer on his breath, "Did Kim hook up with anyone when you guys were following the Dead?"

Lindsay felt on the spot. Lindsay had never actually seen Kim mess around with another guy, but that didn't mean it didn't happen. There were certainly flirtations, and there were a lot of times that they lost track of each other, too, times where Lindsay couldn't account for where Kim was. Lindsay definitely possessed plausible deniability- Kim never told her of anyone either- but she's not sure if Kim would have told her anyway, knowing that Kim would probably want to get back with Daniel as soon as they returned. Lindsay shrugged casually. "Not that I know of," she said.

Daniel could see right through her. "But you don't really know, do you?" he said.

He had her there. In all honesty, she didn't. Lindsay suspected that Kim might have messed around while they were on tour. But she had been unsure of Lindsay's relationship status with Daniel upon leaving, and hadn't wanted to pry, so she'd kept her mouth shut. She sighed. "No, I don't."

"Well, she and I had a conversation before she left where it was made very clear that we were still together. And I didn't do shit while she was gone. So can you maybe admit it wasn't me that messed up this time?" he was looking at her with a bit of a sad smile now.

"Well, you're still about to," she retorted. "I don't know that Kim messed around on you. But I do know that she's in town now and misses you. And you could throw it all away if you make out with someone else in front of this whole party."

Daniel shook his head, leaning closer. "Maybe I just want to be with someone I don't have to fight with all the time," he slurred, "I'm tired as shit of all the drama."

"And you think letting Karen put her tongue in your ear is going to cut down on the drama?" Lindsay asked incredulously.

"Well, I'd date someone like you in a second," Daniel replied, now so close that his breath tickled her face, "but we can't always get what we want, can we?"

Lindsay shifted uncomfortably. Daniel wasn't talking about dating someone like her just then; not by the way that he was looking at her. He was talking about dating her- he had to be. And he was right- he wouldn't get what he wanted- but all of a sudden, she felt really, really bad for Daniel. Maybe his life would be better had he found a girlfriend who was less theatrical, a relationship that was more stable. Maybe the drama between he and Kim only created more drama; maybe he would have behaved himself if they didn't have so many fights to begin with. And most of them were stupid, over nothing.

"Maybe you could have, if you hadn't held onto Kim for so long." Lindsay wasn't sure if it was the beer, or the way that Daniel was looking at her right then, but the words were out of her mouth before her brain had registered what they meant.

Daniel's change in facial expression immediately told Lindsay that she'd made a huge mistake. He had a look of surprise in his eyes but a knowing half-grin on his lips. She slapped her hand over her mouth, blushing.

"Oh, so you used to like me, huh, Weir?" Daniel asked her. "Interesting."

Continuing to make a big deal about it would be even more of a mistake, Lindsay thought. She instantly brought her hand down from her face, shrugged. "Yeah, a little. When we first started hanging out- forever ago. Before I knew you were with Kim or I became friends with her. So what?"

There. Lindsay thought she had diffused the situation pretty well. She continued. "And I definitely don't anymore," she added for emphasis, before spinning on her heel and turning back towards Nick.

The minute he was out of sight, Lindsay let out a shaky sigh. She was happy with how she had recovered, but she had NOT intended to ever let Daniel know that she ever used to like him. That was the last type of encouragement Daniel needed. And it was probably too much to hope for, but she really didn't want Nick to find out. Or Kim, for that matter.

When she returned to the group, Ken gave out a low whistle, and Nick put his arm around her.

"Wow, you really put that bastard in his place," Ken said in his usual Ken-voice of sarcasm. "A single guy having a good time. What an asshole."

"Look, I know he's not really cheating if they're broken up," Lindsay clarified, "but that doesn't make what he was doing any less of a mistake."

Nick smiled as he gently ran his hand over her hair. "Glad I'm not on your bad side tonight."

They stayed at the party a little longer, but after another hour or so it was clear that they needed to go. Daniel had taken Lindsay's advice in regards to Karen Scarfolli, but he continued to drink and had sprawled out on the couch, alternating between shouting at and mumbling incoherently to whoever happened to sit next to him. Nick and Lindsay had obviously lost their driver. Worried for him, Nick offered to drive instead, having only had a couple beers and a much more well-equipped body to handle them than Lindsay. So they decided to leave. Nick helped Daniel get in the back of the Trans Am, and Nick and Lindsay chatted as he drove them towards her house to drop her off.

Nick shut off the engine about a block and a half away. "Let me walk you to your door," he said, briefly glancing back at Daniel, who was now passed out. "He'll be okay."

Lindsay nodded and the two of them got out, started walking. Nick grabbed her hand again and while it felt good, she didn't hold it for very long before pulling her arm away. Daniel's presence tonight had been a complete mood-killer for her, and on top of that she was now worried that Daniel would tell Nick everything she said, or that Kim would somehow find out. Even if her previous crush on Daniel had meant next to nothing to her, it would mean a lot to Nick and Kim, and Lindsay knew it. And as great as it was seeing Nick, she had drank a little too much beer and was nervous he was going to make a move. The timing just wasn't right.

Nick seemed to read her mind. "I'm sorry, this probably didn't turn out to be the night you were hoping for," he said apologetically. "I hope you had some fun, at least, that it was worth it."

"Oh, sure," Lindsay said, smiling. "I had a good time. It was just- it was a little weird, that's all."

"Well, I was thinking, maybe the next time we hang out like this, we could go out alone," Nick said. "Like a date. What do you think? I wish I could ring the bell at 7 p.m. sharp to pick you up, but I'll settle for tapping on your bedroom window late at night." He smiled a little wistfully but then brightened.

Lindsay smiled back. "I'd like that. When?"

"Next weekend? My dad's been cool about me going out on the weekends, but I'm pretty busy during the week, and I'm not sure about leaving the house at midnight on a Wednesday. When's you're day off, Sunday? How about Saturday night?"

Lindsay was scheduled again on Saturday for a grueling 10am-close; she'll be going into the date already pretty tired, but she figured she could always sleep in the next day. "Okay," she said. "Saturday sounds good. Tap on the window around 11? That's pretty much the earliest guaranteed time that my parents will be asleep."

Nick nodded, looking at her. For a second, Lindsay thought he was going to kiss her, but after a moment, he leaned in and gave her a big hug instead. The kind of hug he should have given her when he came into A1 that day.

Reading her mind again, Nick said softly, "I didn't hug you when I saw you at your dad's store because I thought you would think I stunk." He pulled her even closer. "Hopefully I don't stink now."

Lindsay reflexively inhaled, then tried to breathe in even more deeply, taking in more of him. "Um, no, you smell good." That was the understatement of the century.

Pulling back, Nick grinned at her. "So, it's a date, then?"

Momentarily weakened, Lindsay pushed herself back so she was even farther away from Nick to overcompensate. She walked backwards a couple more steps, nodding. "It's a date."

Watching Nick wave his goodbye, Lindsay smiled. It was a date. A date that Lindsay hoped would turn out a little better than tonight did.