#danny messer

However, being a CSI didn't collide with a good social life. There were many nights he'd woken you up when he was called to a crime scene, or Mac needed him at the lab, and his long hours didn't align with your job which meant you had went days without seeing each other even when you lived in the same apartment.

You knew how important his job was and would never ask him to give it up. He was a great CSI and a great boyfriend, but in the end you were roommates who exchanged flirty phone calls. It was cowardly, you could admit that, but it was much easier to put pen onto paper than it was to try to talk to him - and not just because of your opposing schedules.

Danny had found the letter when he returned home and called you immediately, but you were already gone and after a teary goodbye, you left his life.

When he entered a diner with Flack on their way to the precinct, desperate for a decent cup of coffee, Danny felt as if fate was on his side. After staying up until three in the morning just to talk to him after he came home, you had asked him if he believed in fate, and he said he didn't. But he was starting to now.

He turned in his seat to watch you ordering your coffee. Danny knew he couldn't let this opportunity slip away - an opportunity he had been hoping for over two years.

He stood from the table and cleared his throat as he walked toward you. "Uh, hi."

You turned, eyebrows lifting in surprise, "Danny. Hi." You sent him a bright smile, "It's been a while."

"Two years. How have you been?"

"Good. You? Are you still at the Crime Lab?"

"Yeah, and I've been doing fine. I'm actually here with Don." You looked at their table when he pointed out Don who sent you a smile and a small wave. "We're heading to the precinct to interview a suspect."

"Never ends, huh?"

"Unfortunately." He cleared his throat, gesturing to you, "What about you? You look incredible."

You had blushed and tucked your hair behind your ear. "I actually got back last week from uptown. My aunt died. Remember A/N?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. She was really nice. And kept trying to feed me. I thought it was so I couldn't leave."

You laughed, "She adored you. She always asked how you were."

"What happened?"

You sighed, shrugging softly, "The coroner ruled it natural. She passed away in her sleep. She was never the same after my uncle died."

He reached out to squeeze your arm gently, "I'm sorry."

Your name was called to collect your coffee and you sent him a small smile before stepping forward to pick up the cup. You returned to where Danny stood, "I should get going. I've got a meeting in twenty minutes."

After saying goodbye, Danny watched you walk away, leaving the diner, and you were passing the window when he darted outside, chasing after you.

When he called out to you, you stopped and turned, sending him a small confused smile as he jogged over to you. "Will you have dinner with me?"

You considered it for a moment before nodding. "Okay. When?"

You typed your new number into his phone as you made plans to have dinner later that week and parted ways. Danny tapped his cell phone against his hand as you walked away and returned to the diner with a smile on his lips.

Danny knew this was his last shot. So he went a little overboard on dinner and you decided to walk around for a little while afterwards, laughing and held his hand in a way that was familiar. He knew he should head home to get a decent six hours sleep but when you came across a bar, he brought you inside for a couple of drinks, and you ended up playing darts in the corner into the early hours of the morning.

Your relationship sped up rather quickly after that. Within three months you were living together again, but your arrangement had many noticeable changes. You moved out of your apartments into a cosy house. Danny enjoyed his time off more often than he used to and there were many mornings when he was reading the newspaper while you tidied up - or 'staying out of firing range' as he called it. He had tried helping once, and learned quickly not to disrupt your system.

While there were some nights he missed dinner, when Mac needed the team to work overtime on difficult cases, he left work at a reasonable hour and you ate dinner together. There were still times he was called in to a crime scene in the middle of the night and you made coffee in a to go cup while half asleep as he got dressed and he would lead you back to bed, leaving you with a kiss goodbye.

Danny knew he'd taken the domesticity for granted before, and it was something he would never repeat again.

After all, coming home to you was the best part of his day.

He could hear the muffled music from the porch and shook his head, chuckling as he twisted the door knob, clicking his tongue when he realized it wasn't locked. He stepped inside and closed the door, dropping his bag down before locking the door.

"Hey! How many times have I told you to keep the door locked?"

When there was no reply, he shook his head and followed the music to the kitchen where he found you wearing one of his shirts and thick socks, singing along as you made dinner. From your damp hair you'd showered before cooking dinner.

Danny turned off the stereo and you turned with a gasp, relieved when you saw your boyfriend of eight months. "You really need to start locking your door."

You set the utensil down and approached where he lingered in the doorway, wrapping your arms around his neck. Danny put a hand on your cheek when you tried to kiss him, raising an eyebrow.

"Promise me you'll start locking the door."

You knew he had seen all sorts of things while on the job. From the look in his eyes, it had been a difficult day, another difficult case that would stay in the back of his mind until the next grizzly case - and there were no shortage of those.

You nodded, "Seal it with a kiss?"

Danny chuckled, finally cracking a smile, and touched your back, bringing you closer as your lips met. He pulled back, resting his forehead on yours for a moment before surprising you by crouching down to pick up your thighs, wrapping them around his waist.

Laughter left your lips, muffled when he reignited the kiss with more passion, and you wrapped your arms around his neck as he carried you to the living room, laying you on the sofa.

"You're home later tonight." You murmured.

"I know. I'm sorry. Once Adam gets going, nothing can shut him up and he had me cornered." He said with a smile. "I'm gonna freshen up before dinner."

He planted one last kiss on your lips before heading to the bathroom and you shook your head when he grinned back at you briefly.

Later that night you had his full attention as you held up tiles, and colour swatches, and Danny nodded as you explained your vision for the bathroom.

"And these will be in-between," You glanced at him then at the three tiles you held, "A border between the two larger colours." You looked at your boyfriend who rested his arm on the arm of the chair, fingers laced as he listened. "What do you think?"

"As long as it's not bright pink, I'm cool with it."

You shook your head at his impute. "The contractor explains it better. She had a mock wall and everything. And she predicted your laid back approach to this." You set the tiles on the coffee table, smirking when he tilted his head.

"Hey, I chose the border tile, didn't I? I'm involved in the process."

You hummed as you joined him on the sofa, and he placed his arm around your shoulders. "This is our home. I want it to be perfect."

"It will be." He placed a hand on your cheek, "It already is."

You smiled when he leaned in to kiss you tenderly.

"Although..." He pulled back to meet your gaze, "There is one thing that could make it better."

Your brows furrowed, "The turquoise?"

Danny shook his head and moved away briefly to fetch a box from the sideboard and your eyes widened when you recognised the size.

"You asked me once if I believed in fate." He knelt in front of you and opened the box, revealing the engagement ring inside. You clasped your hands in front of your lips, becoming teary eyed as he continued. "And I didn't, not until we ran into each in the diner eight months ago. And I knew, that there had to be a reason, some higher power at play. When you agreed to have dinner with me, I swore to myself that things would be different."

"I thought we agreed to put that behind us." You said softly.

"We did." He nodded, clearing his throat. "But I've been thinking about it a lot lately and always regretted how things ended between us. I acted like an idiot. I should've tried harder."

"And you do." You reassured him gently.

"A lot has happened in the time we've been apart. When I saw you eight months ago, it was like a sign or something." He took your hand and held it as he spoke, "I won't screw it up this time. When I think of the future, I see me and you. Whether it's coming home from work, or waiting for you at the altar, and even kids. I see it all with you. I know we've only been together for eight months, but this ring has been waiting for five months for me to get the courage to ask you. I guess what I'm trying to ask is if you picture yourself with me years from now."

"How many years?"

Danny chuckled, "Uh, how many we have left."

"Yeah, I do."

Danny sucked in a sharp breath. "Really?"

You nodded, moving closer, "Really."

"So, will you? Marry me?"

"I would love to."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I've grown rather fond of you, detective."

Danny chuckled, wrapping his arms around you as your tears finally fell. "Come here." He whispered before your lips met.

You smiled against his lips, running your hands along his arms as he shifted until he was sitting next to you on the sofa. He pulled back after a few minutes, and rested his forehead against yours.

"I love you."

"I love you too." You placed a hand on his cheek, meeting his gaze when he pulled away, retrieving the ring from the box and held your hand as he slid it onto your finger.

“Also fair,” Danny said, mouth full of pasta. Then his eyes shifted to you, a glint of mischief there. “Speaking of throwing things, I was talking to this woman last night at Sid’s charity thing. Gorgeous. Smart. Single. You should meet her.”

You nearly choked on your salad. “Danny—”

“No, seriously. She’s a surgeon. Same kind of weird bone obsession you have. You’d hit it off, I swear.”

You laughed, shaking your head. “That’s generous of you, but I’m good.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “What, you seeing someone?”

You took a long sip of your coffee and gave him your best poker face. “Let’s just say I’m not looking to be set up by a man who once dated a woman for three weeks without realizing she was a Yankees fan.”

“That was strategic denial, thank you very much,” Danny replied, grinning. “Okay, okay — I’ll back off. But don’t blame me when I elope with a bone doctor and you’re left alone with your lab skeleton.”

He stood and tossed his trash away. “Catch you guys later — back to the murder mines.”

As soon as the door shut behind him, Mac glanced at you over his coffee. “If only he knew.”

You froze mid-sip. “What?”

He raised an eyebrow. “About you and Flack.”

You blinked. “Wait… you know?”

“I’m not blind,” Mac said calmly. “I’ve worked with Don a long time. I’ve seen him put his life on the line more times than I can count, and I’ve never seen him shift the way he did when you two got together.”

You exhaled, leaning back. “He wants to go public. He says you’d be fine with it, and clearly he’s right. But… I’m not ready. I don’t know if I ever will be.”

Mac didn’t say anything at first, just looked at you with that quiet, calculating steadiness of his — the kind that could unravel a confession without a single word.

So you kept going. “I just… I don’t want it to be a circus. People will talk. Make it weird. Make it political. Or worse, they’ll start treating me like I’m his rather than a scientist who worked her ass off to get here.”

He nodded. “That’s valid.”

You looked up in surprise.

“But,” he added, “there’s always going to be a reason not to do something. Always a risk. If you wait until it’s completely safe, you might be waiting forever.”

You didn’t respond.

Mac set down his mug gently. “You know what we see. How quickly everything can change. One minute, you’re filing paperwork. Next minute, there’s a gun pointed at your partner’s head and you’re hoping to God that wasn’t your last conversation.”

His voice didn’t rise, didn’t tremble — but it cut.

“You care about him. He cares about you. Sometimes that’s enough to take the leap. And if there are bumps in the road? You work through them. That’s what relationships are. Not guarantees, just… choices. Every day.”

He stood, picking up his empty coffee cup. “Think about it.”

And with that, Mac walked out, leaving you alone in the quiet hum of the lab.

You stared down at your half-finished lunch, no longer hungry. His words echoed, heavier than the bones you studied every day. You’d built a life on analyzing fractures, reading breaks and trauma and violence — but love? Love was the one thing you still didn’t know how to dissect.

You reached into your pocket and pulled out your phone, thumb hovering over Don’s name.

She knows a little bit of your past, your only cousin being in a similar situation, only they weren’t the victim of a murder case, rather they did it to themselves.

It took a while before you could open up and talk about it which she understood. Coming back from something like that, it’s not easy… especially when you’re the one to see it happen.

You start taking pictures, not paying attention to anything around you. ‘In and out. You’re almost done.’

You make your way towards the bathroom area, scanning to see if there was anything to indicate a sign of a struggle, maybe something more than what you see.

You aim for Danny to discuss what both of you have found out so far.

You don't know what happened, one minute the door is open and the next, it's closed.

You don’t realize how long you’ve been holding your breath until your heart starts beating at a mile a minute.

You turn your head to him as a panicked expression takes over your face. “Oh God. Oh God.”

Stella tries calming you down.

You know you need to stop, you’re only limited to so much air but- god you feel nauseous.

You move away from the door and go back to the bathroom.

You lift the camera. ‘Keep moving,’ you tell yourself.

The copper scent heavier here.

You close your eyes and take a gulp. You don’t hear a word anyone has said in the last few minutes.

You open your eyes at the one sentence you wished to never hear.

"Only he had the code," the housekeeper said.

You march towards the camera, nearly pushing Danny out of the way. "I'm sorry, what?"

You stare into the little blinking device, "Stella, dear, tell me I'm not hearing what I think I'm hearing."

She doesn't respond right away but her fascial expression tells you all you need to know.

You can’t help but groan. "Are you kidding me?!"

"We'll be in here,” Danny adds as he gets back to the crime scene.

"Yeah, over the dead body."

"Oh,” he sighs. “Don't be like that."

You take a deep breath. "Okay." He's right, you should not talk like that. This is only a temporary thing.

"Oh my god," you pinch the bridge of your nose.

You move out of the way so Danny and Stella can talk, you know you're not going to be helpful to anyone right now.

-

You don't know whether you want to cry or punch the wall.

You take in a deep breath and sigh. “Guess we better hunker down, huh, glasses?”

He doesn’t crack a smile like he normally does. “I told you to stop calling me that.”

“And I told you I make people uncomfortable when I’m nervous.”

“Well don’t be.”

You purse your lips.

You wish it wasn’t a crime to strangle someone because this would be a crime of opportunity. You shake your hand in front of him. “That doesn’t help anyone.”

You look around the room. "I think I just realized I'm claustrophobic," you tell him.

"What?" His head snaps towards you.

“The room is closing in. I can’t breathe.”

“But you’re breathing right now.”

“Well the air is getting thinner, Daniel.”

He raises his hands and turns back towards the camera.

-

“Get us out of here, please,” you beg to Stella.

“You guys need to conserve your air so freaking out is not an option.”

“Conserve?" You hold your head in your hands. "We're going to die."

He glances over at you. "What happened to that positive attitude?"

Your snaps up to him as you give him a deadpan expression. "That changed to" I'm positive I'm going to pass out and die before you."

He shrugs, “that’s better. at least. I mean-”

“Stella!”

“Danny.”

“What? I’m just sayin'.”

-

You two manage to keep the crime as preserved as you could while collecting evidence before it expired.

“I have to say, you’re handling this better than I- well me.”

He chuckles, “how could I object to being stuck in here with a pretty girl like you.”

You knock your elbow into his. “Shut up.”

“Never.”

-

You don’t know how you've been in here but when the door opened, you couldn’t help but be ecstatic at the chance of freedom... until you see-

“Danny,” you gulp, keeping an eye on the weapon.

“Hey, weren’t you the-”

“Shut up!” He screams, pulling you closer, using you as bait.

"Hey, hey," Danny tries to calm him down.

You barely remember how it ended but you’re more than happy to see that things are over.

-

You take a deep breath outside of the office. You didn’t even hear him take a step closer.

"You wanna grab a beer with me and Louie?"

You scoff through your nose, fighting the urge to smile. "No. You two should have some sibling Bonding Time."

He keeps his hands in his pockets as he spreads his arms. "C'mon. You know you want to."

You roll your eyes. "If I go, will you stop annoying me?"

He removes one hand from his pocket, placing it on his chest as if he was truly offended. "Me? Annoying you?"

You shake your head, laughing at his behavior. "C'mon you idiot.”

You hesitantly grab his hand, letting him lead the way.

He squeezes your hand, holding you close. "Don't want you getting lost in the crowd now. The nights barely beginning."

You can't stop the giggle that escapes you.