AN: To my wonderful betas, all the glitters and SallyJetson, thank you guys so much for sticking with me with this fic! ;)

To all the reviewers, thank you to guys too! Your reviews never fail to make me happy!

To the readers, hope you'll like this one :)

AN2: All mistakes are mine and no one else's

Her small figure leaned against the window frame as she looked out at the tall building and the people walking down the street. It was raining outside. She loved the view of New York City at night. It seemed like the whole city came to life.

It was so different from Montana.

From home.

She felt his hand on her shoulder. She closed her eyes, as if she was trying to absorb the warmth from that simple contact.

“You okay?” he asked from behind her.

“Yeah, I was just…” she faltered as she rubbed her temple and shrugged.

They remained in that position as they both stared out at the night.

After a few moments, he decided it was time to break the silence.

He moved to stand in front of her, bending a bit to force her to look back at him.

“I’m sure breaking up with Chris was a tough choice to make. You should realize how lucky you are that he is a very understanding guy. He didn’t give you a hard time. I think he loved you enough to let you go, seeing that he is not the one you want to be with anymore,” he said in a whisper.

He tucked her loose curl behind her ear as she smiled.

“You’re right. I am lucky. But at that time, I felt like an ungrateful bitch once I reached my apartment. I cried for days and didn’t even bother to attend any of my classes. Derek called a few times but I didn’t want to talk to him. A part of me blamed him for coming in between me and Chris even though I knew I was the one to blame.”

She raked her hand through her hair and let out a shaky breath before she continued, “Jessica couldn’t stand the thought of having me mope around in the room and finally called Chris. She knew what had happened but she also knew that if anyone could make things right again,” she smiled, “it would be Chris.”

“She called a few times but he didn’t answer the phone. We figured he angrier at me that he let on. Later that night…” she choked on the last word as a sob escaped her lips.

Danny put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. He had a feeling that this story wasn’t going to be pretty.

She closed her eyes and took a deep shuddery breath. “His dad…his dad called from the hospital. Chris...he said…Chris…” Speaking was impossible for her as tears started to get the best out of her.

Danny rubbed her back gently to soothe her as much as possible.

A real gentleman would tell her to stop talking and hold her in his arms while she cried.

But Danny Messer was no gentleman.

He was a man on a mission.

“Chris died in an accident. His car…collided with a truck. Chris…was drunk. He was never drunk! Never!”

She tugged at the shirt on his chest and cried. She cried so hard, her entire body shook until her knees gave under her.

He didn’t know how, but the next thing he knew, he was kneeling on the floor with a crying Lindsay in his lap. Her face was buried in his neck and he could feel her hot tears on his skin.

He didn’t know what to say. So he didn’t.

But he held her close in his arms.

Close to his chest.

Even closer to his heart.