Push Me

Disclaimer: Not mine. Belongs to CBS and all of those people who have a lot more money than I do. And Noises Off belongs to it's fantastic creators as well.

Spoilers: Post-Episode 3.19 A Daze of Wine and Roaches

Summary: Is Lindsay ready to move forward? And what causes a healthy 17 year old to die of a sudden heart attack? DL

AN: A huge Thank You to everyone who has reviewed this. It means so very much to me. The following chapter is pretty short and I apologize. I had a hard time with it. Please let me know what you think. Thank you again!

Chapter 5

The rain started when Danny and Lindsay were halfway to her apartment. It poured down in thick sheets and people were dashing all over the place trying to get under cover. Lindsay was relieved that Danny had to concentrate on the road so she could panic quietly.

"Oh God," she thought. "What was I thinking? Is the place clean? Do I have wine? Do we need to drink anything? That's probably not a good idea. Does he think I'm inviting him up as a friend or as, um, something else? I really hope I cleaned the clothes off the bathroom floor."

They pulled into a spot a few buildings down from Lindsay's apartment.

Danny craned his neck to look up at the rain. He looked over at Lindsay with a very serious expression.

"Well, its raining," he said.

Lindsay looked at him and burst out laughing, her tension slowly fading.

"And that right there is why they hired you isn't it? Those fantastic detecting skills."

Danny grinned. "Well, do you have an umbrella on you or are we gonna have to make a run for it?"

They looked at each other and then around the car in the hopes that an umbrella was lurking somewhere. They looked at each other again, sighed in defeat, reached for their door handles and made a run for it.

"Come on Montana! How hard is it to unlock a door?"

"Hey! You try doing this with wet hands! In the rain!"

"You're a resourceful country girl, let's go!"

"Bite me Messer!"

"You offering?"

"Dear God, do you ever stop? Wait, got it!

Danny and Lindsay stumbled into her apartment building's lobby. Lindsay slammed the door closed and looked over at Danny. His hair was plastered to his head and his glasses were streaked with rainwater. She smirked.

"Can you see anything like that?" she asked making her way to her mailbox.

"I can see a woman who needs to find an apartment with a doorman and a covered walkway," he retorted wiping off his glasses.

Lindsay chuckled and pulled out her mail. Two theatre tickets dropped to the floor. Danny picked them up and looked at them before handing them to Lindsay.

"Noises Off?" he said. "What's that?"

"Oh, Jack said he'd put those there," she said looking them over. They were for Saturday night at 8:00 pm. She wasn't on call so maybe she'd be able to make it this time.

"Who's Jack?" Danny asked far too casually.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Lindsay said shutting her mailbox door and walking to the stairs. "He's my neighbour, he's an actor. Noises Off is his new play. Very funny, kind of a sex farce."

"A sex farce huh?" he said as his eyebrows rose. "I am just learnin' all sorts of stuff about you today."

Lindsay blushed and started up the stairs.

"It's actually pretty tame," she said climbing the stairs. "But very funny. They did a movie version years ago with Carol Burnett and Michael Caine. Oh and Christopher Reeve."

"Whoa, whoa," Danny said incredulously. "Superman was in a sex farce?"

Lindsay giggled as she opened the door onto her floor.

"Yeah," she said. "He was wonderful; he stumbled around in boxers and kept getting nosebleeds."

Danny looked horrified. "Now that's just wrong."

Lindsay just giggled and began to unlock her door. The door to the apartment down the hall opened and a tall man with broad shoulders and dark hair and a goatee stepped out.

"Hey there Linds!" he called to Lindsay. "Catch any bad guys today?"

"None today Tony," she called back finally getting her door open. "Ask me again at the end of the week."

"Sure thing," Tony said as he sauntered over. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, Tony, this Danny Messer," she introduced. "Danny, this is Antoine 'Tony' Reed, my neighbour. Danny is my, uh, co-worker, friend, person."

Lindsay mentally slapped her forehead at the ridiculous sentence she had just stumbled through. Tony looked amused and Danny just looked blank.

"How you doin?" Danny said to Tony shaking the offered hand and still looking blank.

"Oh just fine," Tony said with a small smile. He turned to Lindsay. "Did you get the tickets?"

"Oh, yeah," she said carefully wondering what was up with Danny. "I should be able to come. I don't think I'm on call."

"Jack would love to see you there. I think you'll get a kick out of it," he looked Danny over. "You should bring your co-worker-friend here with you."

Lindsay blushed and asked, "Shouldn't you be at the restaurant by now?"

"On my way now," Tony said. "Take care and we'll see you on Saturday. Danny, it was a pleasure."

"Likewise," Danny said with a small grin.

Tony headed down the hall and Danny followed Lindsay into her apartment.

Lindsay hung up her coat and Danny did the same. She looked him over noticing he was still a little wet and then just said, "Wait here."

She went into her bathroom and found a towel for him. He was still standing in the same place. She handed him the towel. Danny took it from her and wiped off his face and head while staring at her.

"Your hair's wet," he said softly. Her hands flew up to her head.

"Oh," she said trying to squeeze out the moisture.

"Wait," he told her and she froze.

Danny took the towel and, still facing her, draped it over her head and slowly massaged the back of her scalp. She could feel each finger moving in precise circles and her eyelids began to get heavy and her lips parted, but she couldn't close her eyes. She kept them on Danny's face. He stopped and stared at her, his hands still on her scalp. He swallowed hard.

And then he was backing up. The abrupt absence of his fingers made Lindsay sway.

"Thanks," she said a little off balance.

"Yeah, sure," he said distractedly.

It was Lindsay's turn to swallow hard.

"Hungry?" she said a little too loudly.

"Yeah," Danny said. "I could eat."

Lindsay headed into the kitchen and called over her shoulder, "It'll take me a few minutes to get some rice going and heat things up. So just make yourself at home. Feel free to turn on the TV or something."

She made it into the kitchen and heard Danny moving around in her living room. She pulled the large bowl of chilli out of the fridge and then pulled out the rice from her cupboard. And stopped. Lindsay placed her hands on her counter and let the coolness of the surface seep into her hands.

"He is out of my league," she thought. "He is completely and totally out of my league. I mean, my God, the things he does to me without even touching my skin. And it's not like you've got a plethora of experience Monroe. He is sex and swagger and you, well, you're the nice girl that the boys take home early."

Lindsay fixed the rice and started to heat up the chilli on the stove.

"Who were you kidding?" she kept thinking. "What is he doing here? He'll get bored. And it'll be tense at work and this is just too much and, and…"

"Hey, whose garden is that down there?" Danny said coming into the kitchen.

Lindsay spun around quickly and almost lost her balance. She clutched at the counter.

"Whoa Montana," he said smiling. "Did I scare you?"

She smiled and nodded. "You have no idea," she thought.

"I was just wondering about the garden down there," he said gesturing to the window. "It's pretty impressive for such a small space."

"Yeah," Lindsay said turning back to stir the chilli. "It's actually a community garden. Tony plants all the vegetables and I generally plant some herbs and stuff. Then Maggie plants the flowers. She's the little old lady on the top floor. She actually owns the building."

Lindsay added the rice to boiling water. "We just sort of trade things for the stuff we want. Like, I'll trade some preserves for some of Tony's tomatoes."

"He, ah, seemed nice," Danny said putting his hands in his pockets.

"Tony? Oh he's a sweetheart," Lindsay said happily. "He and Jack were really nice to me when I moved in. Showed me around the neighbourhood and where market is, stuff like that."

"Nice of them," he said dryly.

"Yeah," she said. "Honestly, its couples like them that give me faith in the rest of humanity."

"Oh!" Danny said brightly. "They're together?"

Lindsay looked over at him. He still had his hands in his pockets, but was rolling on the balls of his feet.

"Um, yeah?" she said. "Why?"

"No reason, no reason," he said suddenly smiling. "Can I help with anything?"

"Um," Lindsay said with a little laugh. "You can get something to drink. I think I've got some beer in the fridge. Or a soda since you're driving. The glasses are in the drying rack"

She turned around to retrieve some plates and bowls from her cupboard. Danny pulled out two Cokes and walked over to the sink. He stopped and backed up and then walked forward again.

"Hey Montana," he said. "Is your floor level?"

Lindsay chuckled. "Nope. Kind of feels like a ship doesn't it?"

"Yeah, something like that," he said filling the glasses with ice and Coke.

"So, Montana," Danny said handing her a glass. "Tell me something."

Lindsay, who had been stirring the chilli, froze.

"What exactly is the difference between chilli and soup?" he asked. "'Cause I know there is one, but I have no idea what it is."

Lindsay looked over her shoulder at Danny, who had a very serious expression on his face. She blinked. And laughed.

"Aw, I give up," she thought helplessly. "He may be out of my league, but no one makes me laugh like this."

"Get over here and stir the chilli cowboy while I make a salad and I'll explain the subtle differences between soups, stews and chilli," Lindsay said thrusting a spoon in his direction.

---

"Damn Montana," Danny said. "That was really good. I had no idea you could cook like that."

Dinner had been great. They had discussed the case (still nothing new), the Yankees (Danny was trying to educate Lindsay on the finer points of the game), Mac and Peyton (Lindsay thought it was sweet, Danny refused to use that word to describe his boss' relationship), and their current favorite movies (Ocean's 11 for Danny and Amelie for Lindsay). Lindsay smiled and began to clear away the dishes.

"Wait, wait," he said getting up to help her. "I got those."

She started to object and Danny overrode her, "You cooked, I'll clean, only fair. Next time when I make dinner, you can clean."

He started the faucet running and began to wash the plates. Lindsay grabbed a towel and started to dry them. Then she realized what he'd said.

"Next time?" she asked casually.

"Yeah," Danny said just as casually. "Next time."

"Okay," Lindsay said softly.

They washed and dried in a comfortable silence, the only sounds heard was the rain outside and the clinking of dishes.

When they finished, Lindsay hung up the dish towel and Danny leaned against the counter and stared at her. She turned to face him and adopted his pose. He smiled at her.

"I should probably go," he said. "Busy day tomorrow and all."

"Yeah," Lindsay nodded. "We have to visit the high school and talk to the friends."

"True," Danny said not moving. "Thank you for a very good dinner. I'd like to return the favour."

"I think I'd like that," she said with a grin. "The great Danny Messer cooking that is."

Danny shifted and moved towards the door. "Careful, Montana. You might be surprised at my skills in the kitchen."

"I don't doubt that Messer," Lindsay said. "I find myself constantly surprised by you."

Danny turned to her with a very pleased look on his face. He walked closer to her and stopped just within arms reach. The pleasant tingles in Lindsay's stomach began to shift and twirl.

"So, I'm thinking that this qualified as a date," he said. "What about you?"

Lindsay blushed but met his gaze.

"I'm thinking that it qualified too," she answered.

He moved a little closer.

"I'm also thinking that since this qualified as a date," he said softly. "A goodnight kiss might be in order."

Lindsay caught her breath.

"I think that could be arranged," she said.

"Another thing to keep in mind," Danny whispered. He leaned even closer. Lindsay closed her eyes. She felt his right hand curl around her waist while he let the backs of the fingers on his left hand sweep her hair aside and then settle on the back of her neck. His breath ghosted over her lips and cheek. She then felt his lips on her neck in a touch so brief she wasn't even sure it happened. Danny stopped and then, his nose rubbed against the place his lips had touched.

Lindsay opened her eyes wide as he pulled back. His hands slipped from her neck and waist to clench into fists at his side. Danny's blue eyes were so dilated they were almost black. They stared at each other for a moment and then he grinned.

"See you tomorrow Montana," he said. And then he was gone.

"Bye," Lindsay said absently to the closed door.

She walked into her living room and turned off the lights. She went to the bathroom and washed her face and brushed her teeth. Then she changed into her pyjamas and set her alarm. She turned off the bedroom lights and laid down. All of a sudden it struck her and she sat upright.

"Oh my God," Lindsay said out loud to her room. "Did he just nudge me?"