A/N: I struggled writing the ending, but I'm finally content with how it ends. I hope you guys like it! It's angsty, but it has a happy ending, so don't hate me hahah This fic is set in a TMP world where Girl Crush never happened.

This fic was inspired by the song "Tell Her You Love Her" by Echosmith. It's a great song & I think it's really fitting for Dandy right now

Danny pressed his forehead onto Mindy's cool, wooden apartment door. He's not quite sure why he's here, but he took a walk this Saturday afternoon, and he somehow ended up at her apartment.

He knows he made a mistake breaking up with Mindy, but he truly thought it was for the best. He wanted to end the relationship before either one of them was in too deep. Plus, he was scared. Scared that he would mess up the best relationship he ever had, scared of destroying his friendship with her if they ever broke up down the line, scared of disappointing her. But he was so wrong; wrong about everything.

He thought after some time, he and Mindy would revert to their old friendship, but that never really happened. It was awkward. Sometimes they would run into each other on the subway, but they would pointedly avoid each other. Work was miserable. They only spoke for professional reasons, nothing more, nothing less. The office lacked Mindy's usual bright spirit, and the atmosphere in the practice was tense every time they were in the same room.

He hated it, and it was all his fault. He wanted to talk to her and tell her he made a mistake of running away, of thinking that a friendship with her was enough when it wasn't. He wanted to tell her he can't live like this anymore. Most of all, he wanted and needed to tell her he loves her. However, he never brought himself to knock on her door, call her, text her, or talk to her.

But here he stood, forehead against the door, standing in front of Mindy's apartment.

He delicately traced the lines on her door with his finger. He felt like it wasn't his place to be here considering the circumstances, but this door was the only barrier between him and Mindy, him and happiness. He needed to be here to break that barrier.

The locks on the door started to click. He darted his head up and looked around for a hiding place. He couldn't let Mindy see him here. He started down the hallway, but it was too late.

"Danny?" He stopped dead in his tracks, but didn't turn around. He didn't think he could look at her, knowing what he had done to her, to them.

"Danny?" she repeated, a little more softly this time.

He slowly spun on his heel and swallowed hard when he saw her. She was in her pajamas, hair down, with a hamper of dirty clothes perched on her hip. How does she look so beautiful in pajamas? God, I am such a jerk. "H-Hey, Min-Mindy. What are you doing here?" He deeply sighed and looked down at his feet, silently cursing himself. What a lame excuse, Castellano. "I-I mean, it's nice...nice to see you...out here."

"What are you doing here, Danny?" Her voice quivered like it did that night, and it broke him.

He took a couple of steps forward, reaching his hand out. "Min, I-"

"No. Please, don't call me that."

"But, Min, I-"

"I said, don't, okay?! Just stop it. I can't do it anymore." The tears freely flowed down her face, but she made no effort to wipe them away. "Please, just go."

"No, Mindy. I'm not going to walk away from you...Not again."

"Fine, then I'll go." She walked down the hallway to do her laundry, but Danny caught her arm as she passed him. She stood in her place and sighed. "Danny, just let me go, okay?"

"Mindy, I can't. I won't." His voice caught, but he continued. "I'm sorry." He rested his head on hers, letting his tears dampen her hair. He lightly placed his lips on the spot just above her ear, but she recoiled.

"No, Danny! You can't say you're sorry and then kiss me and pretend you never broke up with me. It...It doesn't work like that." She turned around and headed back into her apartment with Danny following closely behind. She tossed her hamper in the foyer and started pacing.

"Mindy, please. Can you at least let me explain?"

"What is there left to explain, Danny? You broke up with me! I get it, okay? You were scared, and you didn't want to lose me as your friend, but look how that turned out." The words were harsh, but Mindy's voice was so thick with disappointment, hurt, and defeat that the words were just sad.

Danny stepped closer and placed his hands on her shoulders. He ran his hands down the length of her arms and laced his fingers into hers. "Danny-"

"No, just listen to me, okay? Mindy, I am so sorry. I made a mistake, and I know I can't take it back, but please give me a second chance. I value our friendship more than anything in the world and I didn't want to lose that. I broke off our relationship before it was too late for us to get out unhurt, but I was wrong." The tears pooled in his eyes, and his voice trembled and cracked, but he continued.

"I've been so miserable without you, without-" he sniffled, releasing his fingers to intertwine them in her hair. "Without your soft hair." He started to trace her bottom lip. "Your laugh, and-and your beautiful smile." He cupped her face, wiping the tears away, and peppered her face with soft kisses before he finally rested his forehead on hers.

"Min…" She shook her head, showing her disdain for him calling her that, but he captured her lips. She started to kiss back, giving him a flash of hope, but she quickly broke off contact.

She took a few steps back to create some distance between them. "I-I'm sorry, but I can't," she whispered.

"What?" He stammered and stuttered, but no words left his mouth for what seemed like a lifetime. "W-Why not?"

"You broke my heart, Danny. I...I thought you were different, I thought our relationship was different. I thought that this one, this relationship would be the one that stuck, the one that would actually work out. I was willing to do almost anything to make this work with you, but you bailed on me, you ran away from me."

Her words stung him. Hearing her say how much he hurt her and disappointed her made him even angrier at himself for throwing their relationship away. They simply looked at each other, each searching for answers that didn't seem to exist. After a few moments, Mindy broke the silence.

"Why did you kiss me, Danny? On the plane, why did you kiss me first?"

He took a deep breath. "I-I kissed you because...remember the turbulence? Right after you left to get the tonic water?"

She nodded.

"When it hit, I held onto the arm rest for dear life, and when I turned, you weren't there. Then I remembered on the flight back to New York from Santa Fe, there was turbulence and you were there, holding my hand. You weren't there, Mindy. I realized that...This is going to sound completely ridiculous, but I realized that I couldn't...I couldn't live without you, without you by my side, and without you knowing how I feel about you."

"Danny..."

"Wait, let me finish." He closed the gap between them and gently gripped her arms. "I thought I couldn't make you happy, I thought I didn't deserve you, and I thought I would ruin our relationship. But I was wrong. Breaking up with you was the biggest mistake I have ever made.

"I can't guarantee that I won't get scared again, but I'll never leave you or run away again. Mindy, please forgive me. I need you in my life, I want you, and I want you back. I want to wake up next to you in the morning and make you pancakes for breakfast.

"Min, I love you so much. I am so in love with you." He pulled her in and hugged her tightly, appreciating and remembering the feel of her in his arms just in case this was the last time he was able to do this.

"Y-You're in love with me?" she mumbled into his shirt.

He reluctantly let her go. "Yes, I'm in love with you. I have been for a while."

She forcefully pushed him away. "You're such a jerk, Castellano!" She put her hand over her eyes in frustration. "All this time, you were in love with me. God, Danny, what were you thinking?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"What about all that crap about how guys don't break up with girls they secretly want to be with?"

He lightly chuckled, realizing the irony of it all, and gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I'm sorry. That's absolute crap."

She rolled her eyes at him and sighed. "Danny, look. You can't run away every time you get scared. I know you think it'll save us hurt or heartbreak, but it doesn't. You have to talk to me and we have to talk to each other otherwise this isn't going to work."

He walked closer to her with a smile on his face. "I know. I was a complete jerk, and I realize that now." He tucked a fly away strand of hair behind her ear and rested his palm on her cheek. "I love you."

She gave him a small smile and sighed in playfulness. "I love you too."

His smile grew wider, and he bent down to capture her lips. He knew better now not to let her go.