A/N: one of my favorite lines on the show is Danny's "How many hours of energy did you drink?" and it always makes me wonder if he's had to deal with Mindy hyped up on too many energy drinks, :P... so, in the vein of my last one shot thingie, I'm taking another moment pre-relationship and escalating it to... well smut, sorry not sorry. This one will take two chapters though :P.

Danny picked up his pace, his gym bag bumping against his side as he jogged down the sidewalk toward Mindy's building, the faint glow of dawn just on the horizon. Cold morning air buffeted his face, and he was grateful for the beanie pulled down over his ears. They were supposed to meet at the gym, but she'd been late the past couple mornings, probably lollygagging in front of the mirror. He'd have none of that, Body by Dan was serious business.

He could feel the heat building in him, a radiating cushion of warmth just beneath layers of clothing as he loped along, his soles slapping the pavement in an even tempo. A fine sheen of perspiration like mist chilled as the air hit it. Maybe he could get her to jog to the gym with him. It would be a great warmup, get the muscles loose and pliable, they could move straight to free weights.

One corner of his mouth twitched up, his eyes crinkling as he thought about putting her through the wringer. This was definitely a dynamic he could get used to, bossing her around. Not that she listened all that well, not curling the weights exactly like he told her, making it necessary for him to press up close behind her, aligning his arms with hers as he demonstrated. He'd never known what a gift yoga pants could be, the material clinging to her as she stretched, touching her toes quickly before popping back up. He'd almost been caught checking her out in the mirror.

It was cute, too, the enthusiasm with which she'd thrown herself into working out in the beginning. Granted, it was an enthusiasm garnered by the opportunity to buy a ton of new workout clothes, but her high energy level when they started out in the morning was contagious. He could actually feel his heart rate pick up when she burst through the dingy doors of the gym, practically vibrating with boundless excitement.

The first ten minutes of each session always went amazingly well, so well that he was always mistakenly lulled into a false sense of success. She'd jump rope like a trooper, get her blood to pumping, a distinct glow enveloping her skin as the blood rushed to the surface, the rope tapping against the floor mat as she panted out the words some children's song. The little gusts of air rushing out at uneven intervals twisted his gut into knots, setting his own breathing on a thready rhythm.

As long as he'd known her, he'd never seen her in this kind of environment, physical exertion pushing her body to it's limits, a pleasant exhaustion blanketing her when they were finished. She'd lie spent on the floor, panting up at the ceiling, and a part of him he couldn't control would wonder if this was what it was like for her after sex, the blood still pumping through her veins as her eyes glazed over… Danny could feel his own blood coursing through his limbs as he approached her building, a shortness of breath overtaking him that had nothing to do with his physical exertions. His wayward thoughts getting the better of him for a moment, he stopped just at her stoop to take a deep and cleansing breath before he slipped into the building.

Knowing that she was doing this for some other guy, Cliff damn Gilbert, didn't tame his wild thoughts one bit, in fact, it may have multiplied them. When she patted the sweat away from her glistening skin, complaining about Danny's "nazi-like" regimen (dramatic much?), he itched to lunge forward and yank the towel from her hands before replacing it with his mouth, to feel the dark heat as her pulse fluttered against his lips. He pushed those feelings down, something he had practice doing. But, like most things he hid away, they were residing just below the surface, ready to rear their ugly heads at any given moment.

He sighed as the elevator ascended to her floor. He'd taken more than a few cold showers since he'd become Mindy's trainer, and had still come perilously close to taking matters into his own hands, something he hadn't done since he was a teen (alright, so maybe he'd done it when he was living in Jersey, but that was a whole different story). He was accosted with images of her late at night, deep into his dream cycles, when it felt so real he could smell her lemon shampoo, taste the bitter lotion on her skin. Just this morning he'd woken up panting, hard as a rock beneath the covers, a huge groan of disappointment echoing through his apartment, resigning himself to yet another cold shower.

He flexed his hands as he watched the numbers light up, willing away the sudden desire coursing through him. Think of baseball, Derek Jeter's swing, the Red Sox never winning another world series ever again. Don't think about the overtly sexual grunts she makes between complaints when on the weight bench. Especially don't think about the way she leans heavily on you on the subway ride home, resting her head gently on your shoulder. The words echoed through his head, an oft repeated mantra. He released a slow breath. His methods were frustratingly ineffective.

The elevator came to a jerky halt and he strode out into the hallway, pushing away the images that set desire stirring in the pit of his stomach, an inexplicably hollow feeling in his chest. He knocked on her door, fully prepared to beat on the thing until she woke up. Every morning this week she'd arrived later and later, her initial enthusiasm seemed to be waning. He wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't even gotten up yet. He started to call out her name, but he barely got out the first syllable before door swung open, and there she was, standing unnecessarily close to him. Her bare toes poked out from beneath her pajamas, actually bumping against the tips of his sneakers.

Her eyes were wide, the pupils strangely dilated as she bounced on her heels in front of him. "Danny! What are you doing here?" The words were spoken hastily, running all together. She didn't wait for an answer. "I'm not ready yet, but you can totally wait while I find my fatsteps. I know they're in my closet somewhere, but like, do you have any idea how hard it is to find one pair of shoes in an ultra-deluxe expanded closet? Like a needle in a haystack." She was talking a million miles an hour, gesturing erratically. She whirled around without waiting for him to answer and strode toward her room. He followed her, a concerned look spreading across his face.

"Min-"

She cut him off, calling out from her closet. "Did you know this used to be a spare bedroom? I totally devalued this place by turning it into a walk in closet and connecting it to my room." She giggled unexpectedly as she dug through a precariously piled mountain of shoes. "Shhh… Don't tell my landlord!"

Danny's eyebrows furrowed. Something was… off about Mindy this morning. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but it was starting to scare him. "Mindy, what's-"

She cut him off yet again, chattering away about the usefulness of shoe shelves. "You know, I think I could make one myself. There was this one on pinterest someone made with really big pieces of PVC pipe, whatever that is."

"Mindy, are-"

She ignored him. "I think you'd have to go to the hardware store with me to buy it though, because I'd totally get taken advantage of there, financially and sexually. Did you know-"

This time it was Danny who stemmed the flow of rapid speech. He reached down and grabbed her shoulders, a little roughly, and pulled her to her feet. She blinked a couple times, trying to process why Danny's sweaty palms were bunching the cashmere at her shoulders. Her eyes darted rapidly back and forth, unable to settle on any particular facial feature.

Danny peered at her closely, noting her rapid breath, her skittering pulse jumping at her throat. He released her shoulders, moving his hands to her face, holding her still so he could really look at her. Her pupils were definitely dilated. He frowned, his jaw clenching tightly for a second before he released a long huff. "Damn it, Mindy, I told you to throw away those Korean diet pills you bought on Craigslist. Are you kidding me with this? I don't even-"

She jumped in, a maniacal smile gracing her features. "No, Danny, of course not. All I did was drink a teeny tiny natural supplement, or three, and I've never felt more alive." She grabbed his hand and dragged it away from her face, resting it on the soft material covering her sternum. He could feel her heart pounding away underneath his palm, her chest rising and falling with quick little breaths, the only barrier keeping him from her skin softly slipping under his fingers. "See, my heart is like… racing."

She lifted up on her toes, rising to meet his scrutiny eye-to-eye, the motion pressing her up against him. He suppressed a groan, struggling to breathe evenly himself. "Mindy, there's nothing natural about a resting heart rate this high, or about hugely dilated pupils. You're a doctor, don't play dumb."

He thought that would set her back up, trigger an annoyed little frown and cause her to draw away from him, but she just smiled even more, reaching her hand up to his face. His breath stilled, anticipating a soft caress. He was instantly sucked out of the moment when she affectionately pinched his cheek, gently tugging his face back and forth. "Oh, Danny, you're so cute worrying about me. You're good to have around."

His eyes widened, an unexpected warmth blooming in his chest, creeping up his neck. Was he blushing? Her oddly affectionate tone caught him by surprise. She was high on… well, god knows what, but she definitely wasn't behaving normally. He tilted his head away from her grasp. Pushing her arms back down to her sides, he held her at arm's length. She shrugged and twisted out of his grasp, snatching up her fatsteps before she bounced out into her bedroom.

Danny followed close behind, observing her carefully. She flitted around her room erratically, plucking different articles of clothing from overflowing drawers. She tossed it all on the bed and hooked her fingers underneath the hem of her sweater, pulling it over her head in one swift motion before shimmying off her pajama bottoms. Hooking her toe in the soft fabric, she slung it toward an alarmingly high pile of dirty laundry.

She covered her breasts with one arm, looking back at him over her shoulder. "Danny, could you hand me my sports bra? It's hanging on the doorknob."

He was frozen, a tiny almost inaudible voice in his head told him to turn away, to raise a sweaty palm and cover his eyes, but he couldn't. His fingertips tingled with a burning curiosity to know just exactly what texture they'd find on her nut brown skin. Sure, he'd felt the weight of her breast in his hand once before, the soft as velvet skin juxtaposed against the involuntarily pebbled texture of her areola, but that was before he'd been afflicted with this ever present attraction.

His eyes roved over her, lingering on the leopard print boy shorts accentuating the curve of her ass, the swell of her breast peeking over one arm as she turned toward him. His eyes devoured her, a dry-mouthed lust pulsing through him. "Hello, earth to Danny… bra?" She bounced on her heels impatiently, the motion setting her hair cascading across the bare expanse of her back.

He gesticulated toward her, arms flying out. "What the hell, Mindy? You can't just undress in front of random people!" He felt a growl rumbling in his chest. "I'm sure Cliff wouldn't appreciate that." He spun around before she could answer, missing the flash of sadness swiftly chasing across her face as he stomped out of the room.

He jerked the beanie off his head, feeling entirely too overheated, twisting the hat in his hands. It was wrong to feel this way about someone who was unavailable. He knew he couldn't storm back in there, finally allow himself the relief of running his hands over her skin, sigh into the hollow of her neck as the want finally receded.

He tried to focus on something else. Her troubling physical state came back to mind, and he slipped into her kitchen, opening cabinets, hoping to find these 'supplements' she was talking about and throw them away. He methodically searched through the shelves, frowning at her bare pantry and nearly empty fridge.

Struck by sudden inspiration he went to the trash can. Flipping the lid up, he was greeted by the sight of three tiny little neon bottles resting on top of last night's take out boxes. He carefully plucked them out, peering down at them. Six hour effect… five hour energy… six hour power… What the hell were these? He squinted, trying in vain to read the fine print.

"... and it's not like it's any of Cliff's concern." She marched into the kitchen, mid dramatic speech, when she noticed Danny clutching the bottles. "Oh my God, nosy, get out of my trash!" She knocked the bottles out of his hand back into the bin.

"Mindy, there's like seventeen hours of energy there, that can't be healthy."

"That's obviously not how it works. It's not cumulative."

"Well, it's definitely not natural."

"What are you talking about? Caffeine occurs in nature, so does B12… just maybe, not in those doses." She raised her hand to punctuate her point, focusing for the first time on her trembling fingers. Shit. "Maybe I overdid it a little."

She frowned, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, unable to still the jittery movements. "Oh my God, Danny, what if I die? What if my heart explodes from too much caffeine, or some other unregulated substance hidden within those demon bottles? They're not FDA approved Danny!" Panic tinged her voice. Lunging forward, she fisted the soft cotton of his t-shirt. "Don't let me die."

"Whoa, relax." He guided her back to the kitchen island, pulling out a stool to sit on. "Deep breaths, Lahiri."

He reached up, placing two fingers over the pulse at her neck to time her heartbeats. He swallowed, feeling his own heart knock against his ribcage. She was warm beneath his touch, her shaky breaths slowing a bit as she calmed down. She was fine, really, a little too much stimulant coursing through her veins, but nothing that wouldn't filter out of her system in a few hours. He couldn't pull away, slipping his hand further down her neck, his wayward fingers tracing along the edge of her collarbone.

Danny frowned. "Wait… what do you mean isn't not any of Cliff's concern if you undress in front of other people?"