Loving Lindsay

…………

Danny Messer rolled over in the dark bedroom of his apartment, pulling the curvy sleeping form to him, and snuggling into her like a child would to an oversized pillow. Her even breathing told him that she was asleep. Lindsay shifted, but only cuddled closer to his body, pressing the length of hers against the length of his. Growing up, his father had stressed to him the importance of finding a pretty girl he could trust with money and secrets. That was the way.

Danny pressed a kiss to her temple, and breathed in the scent of her hair, a hint of her chamomile shampoo, and lemons. He hadn't found a pretty girl, he had found a gorgeous woman, and he trusted her with his life. While he had chosen not to take his father's career advise, the advise the man gave out on women was worth something in the world outside of the Corleone operation the man had going on over on Staten Island. He looked back over at Lindsey, who rolled over against him in her sleep, and had curled into his side.

She was beautiful. He leaned into her, pressing a soft kiss to her temple as she slept. He silently wished he had his glasses on, he would be able to see her more clearly. Sighing, he draped an arm over her middle, content on seeing her with his fingertips instead of his faulty eyes. Of course, his roaming fingers had roused her from her sleep. He watched, amused, as she stretched out lazily, and rolled halfway on top of him.

"Time is it?" She mumbled into his shoulder, causing him to smile as she pressed a kiss to his collarbone.

"Late. Early. I don't know." He sighed contentedly, pulling her on top of him fully, settling his clasped hands on the small of her back. She chuckled softly, dropping a sweet chaste kiss to his lips. "I wanted to see you." It was the best explanation he had for waking her up in the middle of the night.

"Did you not think to open your eyes, Detective?" There was a hint of teasing in her voice, but she moaned softly when he pulled her hips roughly against his own in response.

"I can't see without my glasses, and they are on the dresser."

"Mmhmm. So seeing with your hands was the next best option."

"Ray Charles did it."

"Ray Charles was blind, Danny. You're just lazy."

"Right." Danny slipped his hands along her sides, under the tee shirt she wore. His fingertips brushed the sides of her breast, causing her to hitch her breath, before making their way under the band of the old pair of boxers she had stolen form his drawer to sleep in. Her head lolled to his shoulder, her hips squirmed only just against his. He grinned as she breathed a throaty moan into the crook of his neck.

"You're a wicked man, Messer." He chuckled softly, the vibration shooting from her shoulder to her belly, a heat seeping out. "So, like what you see, Detective?"

"Mmhmm. May I see more?" His words came out soft and husky, laced with want and admiration. She pushed herself up on her elbows, and kissed him chastely, before sitting up, and straddling him suggestively. He momentarily forgot his plan to get her writhing beneath him, crying out his name, waking up the neighbors, when he saw her sitting on his thighs. She pushed back her sleep-disheveled hair from her eyes, and bit her lower lips, smiling wantonly at him. She was beautiful. And she was his. He watched as she fingered the hem of one of his old baseball tee shirts, and, after arching her eyebrow at him, lifted it off her frame and dropped it on the floor in a single motion. Lindsay paused in her little strip tease, catching him considering her almost sadly.

"What is it, love?" Danny glanced at the discarded tee shirt, before attempting to smile at his girlfriend. He sat up, holding her against him with one arm, pulling himself into a cross-legged position, and settling her in his lap. Her features became instantly twisted into concern, the sexy scarlet woman glint in her eye replaced with worry. She draped an arm around his shoulder, placing a hand on his cheek, turning him to face her.

"I just, uh, I just had a thought, is all." He paused, pressing a delicate kiss just above the top of her bra. He rested his head against her chest for a moment, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist.

"'Bout what?" She pressed a kiss to his temple, and ran her hand through his short hair, hugging him to her. She felt him breath deeply against her, and when she pulled back to look him in the eye, a tear had started to roll down his cheek. Her heart broke for him, she saw pain and loss and regret in his face, and a weary apologetic half smile on his lips.

"I, uh, I." He let out a sort laugh, shaking his head, and smiling at her. "I just thought, for a second there, that I was thankful that I hurt my back." He wiped his tear on the shoulder of his tee shirt, and looked up at her. "I mean, ok, so say I didn't get nailed in the back with a fastball, and end my baseball career, ok?" She tilted her head, arching her eyebrow at him. Danny had always regretted deeply his accident and the end of his dream of playing pro ball, never saying otherwise.

"But you loved-"

"Let me finish, ok?" She nodded, and he kissed her lips chastely before continuing. "I always thought I would be happier on the field, you know, rather than in the field, and I was only a CSI because baseball didn't work out. I mean, I had a minor league contract with a happy ending at Wrigley Field all set up, and I was finally making my father proud, and I was doing something I loved, you know?" She frowned at him, lovingly running her hand through his hair. "But," his voice faltered, and he hitched in a breath. "But had I not gotten nailed, and ruined my back, and my career, and my hopes and dreams, and consequently, my relationship with my father, had Mac not asked me to come to CSI, had I not returned to New York, I wouldn't have met you." He pushed aside a lock of hair from the side of her face, and rested his forehead against hers, holding her fingers in his hand.

"Danny, don't." She didn't want him to make himself anymore upset than he was.

"No, Linds, please." He held her tightly, wiping his tears on the bare skin of the crook of her neck. "I was angry when I had to give up baseball. I was so mad. I worked my whole life to get to the majors, play in front of thousands, to see jerseys with "Messer" written on the back, above my number. To lead the league in assists, to win the batting title. I thought that that was all life was about. Winning my father's approval one trophy at a time. I was so close, Linds. I was first round pick straight out of college, I had one last game to play, one last at bat in my college colors."

"Danny-"

"Lindsay, I'm thankful that I didn't go to Chicago, that I didn't finish that game, even that I had to learn to walk again. If I hadn't ruined my back, I would have never known that you were all I needed for all my dreams to come true. Baseball, baseball had nothing to do with it." He hugged her to him, and leaned back into the bedding, pulling her with him, then rolled over on top of her. He grinned lovingly at her when she let him settle between her thighs, and pressed a kiss to the delicate skin just below her ear, before cuddling up to her chest. He felt her chuckle beneath him, and felt her arms on top on him, and he knew that all that pain and heartbreak was worth it, it had lead him straight to her. He slipped his arms around the small of her back, and rested his head against the swell of her chest, already becoming lulled into sleep by her fingertips sifting through his short hair rhythmically.

He listened to her even breathing, as the first rays of dawn seeped through the window. Danny Messer said a silent prayer to the baseball gods, for rejecting him, and giving him this woman. This was what life was about. Loving Lindsay.

………

A/N: So… I substituted Carmine's baseball past for Danny's… and made up everything but the back injury and the promising baseball career… fusing actor and character. Still kinda getting associated with the characters… apologies for the baseball bit and Danny, I know it's not canon… but the baseball thing caught me. I love baseball. :grins madly: