HOLD ME NOW

Disclaimer: The characters in CSI: New York do not belong to me. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.

Summary: The cliché was true, sometimes you didn't know what you had until it was gone. The question was: could you ever get it back again once you'd lost it? Lindsay Monroe was about to find out the answer.

Notes: Hi! New chapter for you – sorry it took so long. Busy few weeks what with one thing and another. Anyway, I finally managed to focus enough on my writing to finish this so that's the main thing. Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think x

OOOOOO

Part 48 – A Blot on the Horizon

A month or so later, Lindsay found herself tuning out the conversation as Danny explained to their architect and builder what they wanted in the kitchen of their new home.

She felt a little guilty for not being more interested in proceedings, but truth was - although she was more than willing to provide her input into the final design - she wasn't all that bothered about the mechanics of how they achieved it. Danny, on the other hand, seemed to want to be involved in every last detail. She predicted that Bob - their rather aptly named builder – and Marcus, the architect, would be cursing his name before long.

Wandering away from the three men, she lifted an old-fashioned key off a hook near the door, and let herself out into the over-grown garden beyond. It was early March and spring was most definitely in the air. She felt her spirits soar as she breathed in the fresh, clean scent of nature in bud. The garden was currently choked with weeds, but she could imagine how it would look once it had been landscaped to their specification.

The cracked paving stones underneath her feet would be replaced with slatted wooden decking, whilst the rest of the space would be cleared and turfed, providing Lucy with somewhere safe and secure to play. The newly crafted lawn would be bordered by a wide bed, which would be planted with easy-care perennials and herbaceous shrubs as neither she nor Danny would have much time for gardening in between their work and family commitments.

Danny had been threatening to buy a barbeque to complete this residential tableau, and she smiled at the thought of him flipping burgers and overseeing his domain like a typical suburban husband and father. It didn't quite fit his image somehow. He was most definitely a family man, but he would never lose that streetwise edge, and quite frankly she wouldn't want him to. It was that which held her interest, kept her coming back for more time and time again.

Her thoughts turned to their wedding plans then. After a couple of weeks of deliberation, they'd finally settled on a date in early July for their nuptials. Both their mothers had been predictably aghast at this seemingly inexplicable decision. "But that's months away!" Rosa had exclaimed. "Why on earth would you want to wait so long?" Elizabeth had demanded.

The reasons behind that were both practical and personal. Danny was insistent that they had a proper honeymoon this time around and July was the only time that both of them could manage an extended period of leave. More than that though was the fact that they didn't want to rush things. Not because either of them had any remaining doubts, but more because they wanted to settle back into family life and coupledom at their own pace.

They were both extremely sensitive to the fact that they had failed to properly nurture their relationship first time around, and they didn't want to make the same mistake twice. With their jobs, parenthood and the renovations on the house to oversee, their free time to be together was going to be fairly limited over the next few months. Ultimately making a success of their marriage was their number one priority, and giving themselves this breathing space before the wedding afforded them the appropriate downtime from work and domestic practicalities to spend some quality time together. The renewal of their wedding vows, while undeniably important, was of a secondary concern to them when all was said and done.

Unfortunately for both their families, the wedding was the symbol of their permanent reconciliation and they would not be satisfied until the deed was done. "Ignore them," Danny had said when Lindsay had lamented this fact a few days earlier. "It's the right decision for us so they're just gonna have to live with it."

It was of course only a minor irritation in the grand scheme of things, of more concern to Lindsay right now was the brewing situation with Flack. It had begun the day they'd announced their engagement and slowly spiralled from there…

Four weeks earlier…

"Well, that went okay," Danny remarked to Lindsay as they strolled hand-in-hand down the sidewalk around an hour and a half before midday.

They'd just left the Lab after announcing their engagement and they'd been genuinely touched by the amount of well-wishes they'd received. These had come not only from their fellow CSIs, but also from the myriad of other employees of the New York Crime Lab too. They were now on their way to the nearby precinct – ostensibly to talk to Flack about their latest case, but mainly to pass on their happy news to their friend.

Lindsay nodded. "Everybody was so positive about it, weren't they?" she said.

Danny shot her a brief, sidelong glance. "You thought they wouldn't be?" he asked, surprised by the note of incredulity in her voice.

"I thought some people might roll their eyes and think 'here we go again'," she admitted, "But you could see that they were genuinely happy for us."

Danny privately thought that Lindsay often underestimated her popularity at the Lab. Her sweet, honest nature, her sparky sense of humour, as well as her genuine enthusiasm for the work endeared her to everyone. There really wasn't that much not to like in his opinion. He was completely and utterly biased of course, but he still enjoyed the fact that while the majority of the Lab saw one woman, behind closed doors he knew a different one entirely. She was all of the above things, but so much more as well. He knew her to have a hidden wicked streak for instance, so he paid no heed to the locker-room talk that suggested she was 'too nice' for a wise-ass like him. She was sexy and funny and she suited him just fine, thank you very much.

Pushing open the door to the precinct, he held it back with the flat of his hand as Lindsay preceded him into the crowded space. As usual, it was a hive of activity with phones ringing jarringly amongst a steady hum of voices and the occasional cussing of a particularly belligerent perp. Flack was sitting calmly at his desk amongst the fray with his eyes focused on the screen in front of him and his fingers tapping industriously at his keyboard. He wasn't as oblivious to their presence as he first appeared however, because he spotted their approach before they were even halfway across the room towards him.

"Whoa! Both Messer's at once," he said, leaning back in his chair and casually folding his hands behind his head. "To what do I owe this honour?" He grinned. "Or should I say misfortune?"

"Be nice," Danny said, cuffing his smirking friend upside the head, "Or I'll set the ball-and-chain on you."

Flack shuddered exaggeratedly.

"While I totally agree with the sentiment," Lindsay cut in, "If you ever refer to me like that again…" She fixed Danny with the proverbial evil eye. "Well, that brother or sister for Lucy you wanted? You're not gonna be remotely capable of fathering it."

"Ouch!" Flack remarked understatedly, while his friend winced at his fiancée's barbed comment.

"So why are you here?" Don asked after a beat. Danny and Lindsay exchanged a loaded look before the latter held out her left hand towards the blue-eyed detective.

"Well, it's about damn time," Flack observed as he studied the tell-tale diamond twinkling on her third finger.

"We should have stayed at the Lab," Danny remarked to Lindsay under his breath.

She flashed a warm, appreciative smile in his direction before turning her attention to their impudent colleague. "Show more enthusiasm or I'll put you in charge of Lucy for the entire wedding day," she threatened in honey-coated tones.

Flack's eyes widened. "There's going to be an actual wedding?"

"There is," she confirmed with a nod and then raised her eyebrow at him. "So?"

"Just how excited is she on a scale of one to ten?" Don enquired, seemingly unconcerned by the fate that could potentially befall him.

"Off the chart," Lindsay told him breezily. "She's decided that everyone should wear pink on the day and I'm thinking she's got a point - I mean a themed wedding'd be something different, wouldn't it?"

"I always fancied an Elvis-themed one myself," Flack remarked lightly.

Lindsay wrinkled her nose. "Nah, I think pink's definitely the way to go. What do you reckon, honey?" she asked, turning to Danny for his opinion.

"Sounds cool," he returned, playing along. "I was thinking maybe a pearl-grey suit with a baby-pink shirt underneath for the groom, and then the reverse for the best man and groomsman. It'd make a statement, don't ya think?"

"Don't you're killing me here," Flack groaned theatrically and then capitulated with a wry shake of his head. "You make me wear pink and I won't speak to you for at least a year," he warned Lindsay as he rose to his feet and hugged her in congratulations.

"Oo! Where do I sign on the dotted line?" she teased.

"Are you really sure you want to marry her?" Flack asked Danny as he reached out to shake his friend's hand.

"Can't go back now – the divorce papers are in the trash," Danny informed him.

"Seriously?"

Danny crossed his heart with his forefinger. "God's honest truth."

"And you're absolutely certain there's no pre-nup to fall back on?" Flack said, and then rubbed at his upper arm when Lindsay punched it in protest. "Ouch! That hurt!" he exclaimed indignantly.

"As well it should," she told him primly. "You're pushing your luck, Detective."

"No longer funny, huh?" Don said, and then lifted his shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. "Ah well, it was fun while it lasted," he went on regretfully, and then laughed at the pinched expression that tightened Lindsay's pretty features in response.

"Look, I'm happy for you guys, honestly," he said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "And just to prove it, I'll treat you to a celebratory drink tonight – how does that sound?"

"Better say yes," Danny advised his fiancée. "It's not that often that he reaches in his pocket for the cash so we should make the most of it while we can."

Lindsay's face relaxed into an easy smile. "What time?" she enquired.

"Seven thirty at Sullivans?" Don suggested.

Lindsay nodded. "I'll see if Shelley can stay on and babysit," she said, reaching in her purse for her cell. "Your shift doesn't finish until seven though," she pointed out to Danny as she scrolled through the numbers to find the one that she wanted.

He shrugged. "I'll swing by the apartment at lunch-time and pick up something to change into," he said. "I can grab a quick shower at the Lab after my shift and meet you there."

In the end, Lindsay decided to meet him at the Lab so that they could take the short walk to their favourite bar together. Nodding to the security guard as she crossed the Lobby to take the elevator to the 35th floor, she felt rather incongruous in her spiky-heeled boots, embellished jeans and cerulean-blue silk top. It was as if she was breaking some hidden dress-code or something. Her hair was artfully curled around her face because she knew Danny liked it like that, plus her make-up was a lot bolder than the neutral shades that she customarily chose for a day at work.

She found Danny in the locker-room, sitting on a long, wooden bench and pulling on his trusty Converse. His hair was still damp from his shower, and the air was fragrant with the familiar smell of his cologne. He was also bare-chested, something she wasn't sure was entirely appropriate in a unisex locker-room. "Anyone could walk in here, you know," she announced from the doorway.

He looked up from tying his laces and smiled. "And your point is?"

"You're only half-dressed!"

He grinned as he stood. "And that unsettles you, does it?" he asked, deliberately raising his arms above his head and linking his fingers together to stretch out his shower-warmed muscles.

"No but I … Oh!" The air whooshed from Lindsay's lungs when she found herself suddenly backed up against the wall and caged in by the solid, muscular form of her raison d'etre.

"No?" he asked huskily as his lips unerringly sought out the throbbing pulse-point at her throat.

"Danny!" she protested, even as she arched her neck into his mouth's moist caress.

"You smell good," he said as he lifted his head and looked down into the warm caramel of her eyes. "Look good too," he added as he ran a teasing finger just above the waistband of her jeans underneath the silky material of her top.

"Stop changing the subject!" she gasped as her stomach muscles jumped in reaction to his touch.

Threading his fingers through her hair, he brought her face to his, but stopped with his lips hovering above hers like a bee waiting to take its first taste of a flower's sweet nectar. "There's no-one here but us, babe," he informed her throatily before deliberately lowering his head and covering her mouth with his.

Lindsay surrendered with a soft moan as his hungry lips parted hers in a hot, passion-filled kiss that sent her heart to racing and put her nerve-endings on high alert. She ran her hands up his bare back as they embraced, appreciative of the smooth warm skin under her fingertips as her body melted into his.

"Babe, your lipstick's all smudged," Danny told her casually when he eventually released her several dizzying moments later.

Leaning her head back against the wall, Lindsay let out a shaky laugh. "You did that on purpose!" she accused as she fished in her purse for a handkerchief to blot her kiss-swollen mouth.

He grinned good-naturedly at her. "My reasons were purely selfish, I assure you," he told her. "I came over all nostalgic all of a sudden."

"Nostalgic?" she said as she deftly re-applied a coat of lipstick without the need to look in a mirror.

"The outfit," he said, waving his hand at her as if that explained everything. Reaching into his open locker, he withdrew a jade-green shirt and slipped his arms into it, but left the garment hanging loose from his broad shoulders as he slammed the door shut and turned back to face her.

"I don't understand," Lindsay said, her forehead creasing into a bewildered frown.

"The belt, the hair, the heels…"

Lindsay looked down at the studded belt she wore. It was one she'd had for years. She didn't wear it all that often anymore, but it had seemed the perfect accessory for her outfit tonight.

Danny chuckled at her continued confusion "You don't remember, do you?" he said. "You look like you did the first night we err…" He winked salaciously at her, "Did the deed so to speak. I'm pretty sure that's the same belt in actual fact."

Lindsay blushed, finding herself instantly assaulted by steamy memories of that unforgettable night on his pool table. She still couldn't quite believe she'd been so bold as to proposition him like that. Of course, he'd taken charge from then on – had memorably 'come up with something better' like she'd brazenly challenged him to.

"You remember what I was wearing?" she asked a little sceptically.

"Oh yeah," he said with a decisive nod. "You were all relaxed and unbuttoned, and so goddamn sexy I had a hard time concentrating on the game. You were usually so careful to stay in control, but that night… well, you were different - softer, more approachable somehow."

He was right of course. When they'd started dating after she'd returned from Montana after the trial, he'd been more restrained with her than she'd expected him to be. He wasn't afraid to touch her, far from it, but he'd let her set the pace of their relationship even so. Weeks in, they hadn't gone much further than second base, and yet he still hadn't pushed - despite the fact that she knew he must be getting increasingly frustrated with the situation.

As a result, she'd been more comfortable with him than she had been with any other man in her life, and that night she'd finally just let go and enjoyed herself. For once she'd not been worried about doing or saying the wrong thing. She'd held no expectations of where the night might lead, she'd simply let things develop naturally and develop they most certainly had.

She smiled. "You made me feel safe, but out of control at the same time," she said as she reached out to fasten the buttons of his shirt for him, an intimacy she afforded without any conscious thought.

He lightly stroked her cheek with the back of his finger. "A good combination," he observed.

She nodded. "For me, yes. I wanted to feel like I was being swept off my feet, but I also needed to know that you'd be there to catch me if I fell." She smiled up at him, her eyes soft with remembrance. "I trusted you to do that."

'And then I stole that trust away' he thought guiltily but chose not to voice that particular sentiment.

They were moving on. His fling with Rikki was no longer a taboo subject between them, but it was now firmly in the past. She trusted him in a way that she never had done before. It was only now that her faith was assured that he understood just how many doubts in him she'd previously harboured. No wonder their relationship had unravelled at the seams at the first hint of trouble.

"All done," she announced as she slipped the last of the buttons through its associated button-hole. "Looking good, Messer," she finished, reaching around to cheekily slap his butt to emphasise that point.

He caught her around the waist and hauled her back against him before she'd managed to take two steps away. Pressing his face into the crook of her neck, he breathed in of her light, floral scent and relished the sound of her girlish giggles as his facial hair tickled her skin. She squirmed in his arms, trying to free herself from his hold. "Danny!"

He laughed, but didn't immediately let go. "Kiss me," he demanded, tightening his arms around her when she willingly turned her head and obliged him, her hand sliding up to cup the back of his neck as his lips moved purposefully over hers.

"Come on, let's go," he said when they eventually broke apart. "We're late and Flack only lets his money see daylight for about an hour a day so we're running out of time to take advantage."

Lindsay laughed as he laced his fingers through hers and led her from the locker-room. She knew Flack wasn't as miserly as Danny was making out, but she always found enjoyment in the never-ending banter that the two men shared. It was a friendship that she somehow felt an integral part of; even though she knew she only existed on the periphery of it. She and Don had thankfully managed to stay friends after her and Danny had split, but she had missed being part of a trio all the same and was glad that the three of them had finally regained that lost dynamic.

She'd not had that all-for-one-and-one-for-all companionship in her life since Kelly and the others had been killed, and it filled a hole in her that her relationships with the rest of the team didn't. A certain level of professional respect existed between her and Mac and Stella for example, while Adam was like a little brother to her. Hawkes meanwhile was just well, Hawkes - a good friend but not a comrade-in-arms in the same way that Flack and Danny were.

When they arrived at Sullivans some fifteen minutes later, they were greeted with a cacophony of congratulatory hoots and cat-calls. Flack, it seemed, had invited the entire Lab, most of the police precinct and a good proportion of the rest of the NYPD as well. Apparently they were having an engagement party whether they liked it or not.

"I invited a few people," Flack told Lindsay understatedly once they'd fought their way through the crowd towards him, "Said you were putting a tab behind the bar."

"You wish," she laughed as she hugged him. "I can't believe you did this!"

He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. "I figured there was something to celebrate," he said.

"Thank-you," Lindsay said sincerely. "It means a lot to know that our colleagues are happy for us. You'd think they'd be fed up with our dramas by now."

"Nah, you're their favourite form of entertainment," Flack quipped with a grin.

"So," Danny said as he hooked a companionable arm around Lindsay's shoulders, "How about that drink you promised us? I'll have a double-shot of Tennessee's finest since you're paying."

"What about you?" Don said to Lindsay. "Something pink with an umbrella?"

"A lime mojito wouldn't go amiss right now," she decided after a moment's contemplation.

"Ick!" Flack said with a grimace, and then his face broke into a welcoming smile as he spotted his girlfriend enter the bar. Sliding two fingers into the corners of his mouth, he whistled piercingly to attract her attention. "Hey Ellen! Over here!" he called, beckoning her over with a come-hither gesture of his fingers.

"Hey!" Ellen greeted when she finally reached his side. Curling an arm around his neck, she planted a warm kiss on his waiting lips. "What's all this?" she said, looking about her in some surprise. "You implied it was just going to be a quiet drink with a few colleagues."

"It is," Don said airily and she laughed.

"Looks more like a party to me," she remarked. "What's the occasion? Did someone get promoted?"

"No… Danno and Linds got re-engaged."

Ellen stared at him, the previously sunny expression on her face hardening in an instant. "And you invited me to their engagement party?" she exclaimed in horror. "Seriously Don! What were you thinking? You know I can't be here for this."

"Why not?" Flack demanded pugnaciously.

She rolled her eyes. "Rachel – that's why not!" she huffed. "Does she know about this?"

She fired this question at Danny, who shrugged in response. "I have no idea," he said.

"You mean you haven't told her?"

"What did you expect me to do? Call her up personally to give her the news?"

"Well, that would be the decent thing to do, wouldn't it?" Ellen said acidly, "But I guess you left your decency at the door when you hooked up with your ex and dumped poor Rachel like last week's trash."

Although he tried to remain neutral, Danny's quick temper fired at that. "Look Ellen – I don't know what your problem is, but you're way outta line, okay? You're making out like Rachel and I were practically engaged or something. Our relationship was more than casual – I won't belittle her by suggesting otherwise – but it was hardly the romance of the century. She knew the score when we got together. She understood I was still burned from my marriage breakdown and wasn't looking for anything heavy. I'm not saying she didn't get hurt by any of this, but we ended things between us months ago now. You seem to think I should be running every decision I make past her forever. When's it going to stop, huh? There comes a point when you just have to move on."

"What? Like Lindsay moved on from you, you mean?" Ellen snapped back.

Danny expelled an exasperated breath. "That was different. Me and Rachel - we'd been together what, six months? Lindsay and I – we've been a part of each other's lives in one way or another for nearly nine years now. We're married; we have a child together, plus we're work colleagues and close friends on top of that. The two of us are connected on so many levels - it was inevitable that it would take us a long time to come to terms with being apart."

"Justify it how you want, but that doesn't change the fact that I can't be part of celebrating something that broke my best friend's heart," Ellen said. "And you should know that," she told her boyfriend accusingly.

"Ellen, come on!" Flack exclaimed in frustration. "Danny's right – this has gone on long enough. I understand why you feel the need to stand by Rachel, but she seems fine about everything to me. I know for a fact that she had a date a couple of weeks ago - she told me so herself – asked me if I could finish off the paperwork on our case so she could leave on time to get ready."

"That's not the point."

"So what the hell is?"

"It's a question of loyalty. These two crossed the line and yet they flaunt their good fortune like they're entitled to it. If I stick around, be part of that, then it's as if I'm condoning the way they've trampled all over Rachel's feelings."

"Well, maybe you should just leave then," Flack said, decidedly pissed off now.

Ellen flushed. "Don't worry, I wouldn't stay if you paid me," she shot back just as heatedly…

OOOOOO

"I wondered where you'd gotten to."

Back in the present, Lindsay jumped a little as she felt Danny's arms slide around her waist from behind. "Have they gone?" she asked as she leant back against his solid form.

"Yep." He turned his head and kissed her hair. "What's up?"

"Nothing, I…" She stopped, sensing his scepticism without him having to voice it. "It's just this thing with Flack…"

Danny sighed. "Look, I know it's a bit awkward right now, but it'll work itself out eventually."

"Will it though?" Lindsay said, pulling away and turning around to face him.

He shrugged. "They made up, didn't they?"

"Yes, but she still refuses to be in the same room as me. How can you be okay with that - with the fact that we're the main reason that things have gotten so rocky between them?"

"I'm not, but I still think it's up to them to sort it out."

"But what if…?"

"What if what?" Danny prompted when she didn't finish the sentence.

Lindsay sighed. "He loves her, Danny."

Danny inclined his head in acknowledgement of that fact. "He does, that's true," he agreed, "Which I guess must seem a bit weird to you right now. I don't think you've gotten to see the best side of Ellen so far," he added with a wry smile.

"Oh, you think?" she responded sarcastically.

He chuckled. "She's cool, you know – she's just got herself into a bit of a state over this thing with us and Rachel. I think it's more to do with her feelings than Rachel's to be honest – which is probably why Flack is putting up with the way that she's been behaving. She came to New York because her company offered her a job here, and I think she expected to fit in straightaway. Unfortunately that didn't really happen. She hasn't said, but I get the impression her workmates are pretty clique-y – are way too involved in their own lives to make any effort to welcome someone new, you know? She met Don, which helped, and then through him, me and Rachel too…"

He paused. "She and Rachel really hit it off, and I guess it was their friendship that ultimately helped her to settle in and stop feeling so out of place."

"So she's hostile to anything that might threaten that?"

Danny nodded. "The four of us did spend a lot of time together, I guess, and you and I getting back together has obviously put the kibosh on that."

"She blames me for this, that's for sure," Lindsay said. "But Flack – he's like family to us, Danny. I know he's not Lucy's official godfather or anything, but he's a huge part of our lives all the same. Our daughter adores him, he's your best buddy, and… well; he's a good friend to me too. If Ellen won't even make an attempt to accept the two of us together, where does that leave us? She's his girlfriend – his first obligation is to her. He's gradually going to fade from our lives – can you deal with that?"

"Will I resent you for it, you mean?"

Lindsay shook her head. "No…" She stopped, and then shrugged. "Well, partly I guess. I was more concerned about how it would affect yours and Dons' friendship though."

"We've been friends for a long time, Linds. This won't change that."

"But it won't be the same, will it?" Lindsay persisted. "And what if this ends up being a deal-breaker for them? You and I will be the reason they broke up. How's that gonna make Don feel?"

"Not so great I would imagine, but it's not your responsibility even so," Danny told her.

"I put the moves on another woman's man, didn't I? I broke up your comfortable quartet…" She frowned. "What are you laughing at?"

"The idea of you being some sort of femme fatale," he said with a grin. Stepping closer, he dropped an affectionate kiss on the tip of her nose. "You're way too cute for that, trust me."

"Danny! I'm trying to be serious here!" she protested.

"I know, but what exactly did you do that was so terrible, huh? You broke down and told me you regretted our split, and then immediately apologised for voicing that thought and putting me in such an awkward position."

He shook his head. "That's not what I call putting the moves on someone. If you'd stripped naked and come on to me then you could probably count yourself as guilty, but ultimately it was my choice. I chose to put things on hold with Rachel while I worked out my feelings for you. I chose to end things with her when I realised that deep down I still loved you and would regret it if I didn't give our marriage a second chance. You're my wife, Lindsay – I want to be with you. Period."

He took her in his arms then, and she burrowed against him, using his strength to bolster up her flagging spirits. "So you're not worried about this at all?" she asked after a few moments of contemplative silence.

Danny sighed. "I don't like that Flack has ended up being stuck in the middle, but it's not us that's forcing him into making a choice, babe. If Ellen isn't willing to compromise then maybe she's not the one for him."

"So 'Bros before Hoes' – is that it?"

His lips quirked in amusement at her chosen turn of phrase, "Something like that, I suppose," he concurred. "Look, I'll support him in whatever he chooses to do – just like he did for me. When all this started, he told me I had to be honest with myself – and the two of you – but he didn't try and influence my decision in any way. For the record, I think he thinks I made the right call – he likes Rachel, but he adores you, so if you're worried he'll blame you in some way then don't. It's like you said – Bros before Hoes."

Lindsay lifted her head from his chest, one eyebrow cocked. "So I'm Flack's Bro now, am I?"

Danny chuckled, "In a manner of speaking, yeah."

She smiled. "I suppose you're right," she reluctantly conceded.

He crossed his eyes at her. "So stop worrying then."

She wanted to, she really did, but she couldn't help feeling that it could never be that simple. Maybe that was her neuroses talking, but she knew that somewhere along the line, someone was going to get hurt. The question was: who was that someone going to be?

To be continued…