A/N: OKAY so here is my first Mindy Project / Dandy fanfic. So here goes... I hope it's true to character!
"For God's sake, Mindy… No. I'm not doing this again," Danny exclaimed, voice thick with tiredness and exasperation. Ever since she got back from Haiti she could not go to a single social gathering without her right-hand man - the title that was bestowed upon him for some inexplicable reason.
"C'mon Danny," Mindy whined. "You know I can't go to these things alone anymore! If I do I'll just end up leaving with some random, hopefully attractive guy and - yet again - breaking my agreement with myself."
"Yeah, yeah, the one where you vowed-" Danny started, but was cut off.
"Where I vowed to not have meaningless one-night-stands. I actually want to date! I now live by the Fifth Date Rule," she announced proudly. Danny stared at her incredulously with one eyebrow raised and his hands planted firmly on his hips.
"Really?" he questioned with an obvious air of doubt in his voice. "You're going to wait a whole five dates before you have sex with a guy?" It was a nice thought, but he knew Mindy too well to believe it.
"Yes Danny, I can abstain from sex for five dates," she snapped back at him. He continued to stand in the same position in the doorway: with an eyebrow cocked as his dark eyes stared intensely into hers. She felt her cheeks redden under his stare, so she tore her gaze from his and stared down at her hands, which were fidgeting nervously atop her desk.
"I'm trying to change," she muttered innocently. He could hear the sadness in her voice. This was it: the moment in their arguments that tore down his barriers, without fail, leaving him with only one choice. He took in a deep, defeated breath.
"Nope, not doing it," he announced firmly, looking anywhere else but towards her. After an awkward beat of silence he made his escape out of the room and slammed his office door behind him. He'd gotten lucky this time, he usually always caves.
He released a long, exhausted sigh and slumped into his chair. She always had this way of getting under his skin and making him do whatever she needed, which he definitely was not used to. She just has this light to her that always draws him near, so sue him if he can't help but tag along with her. He had to admit, it didn't feel good when she used him as a human barricade from the sleazy guys chasing after her, but it's not like it meant anything. She just... they were friends. Sometimes, despite all the arguing, she makes him happy. That's what friends do. Sometimes they use each other as a bodyguard, others they drive each other crazy, but mostly they just make each other happy. Do I make her happy? He wondered. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of his chest. Well, it's not as if she'd drag along someone she hated to multiple parties and gatherings, in which they end up spending the entire evening together. She always tried to push him towards other women, too, but he just found himself uninterested. Not when he was content - happy, even - spending time with her.
Danny didn't realize his office door had opened.
"Smiling about our evening plans?" She pressed, her voice pitching up in a sickeningly sweet way. I was smiling? Danny questioned, for he clearly hadn't noticed. Hm. He pretended not to care for her batting eyelashes and the fox smile that played at her lips.
"Actually," he said, dragging out the word in an attempt to sound bored, but instead it came out subtly flirty. Shaking off that tone, he cleared his throat and continued, sounding more like his usual grumpy self. "I'm looking forward to crawling into bed early tonight after watching some quality baseball and getting substantially drunk on my couch."
Mindy rolled her eyes and huffed, clearly annoyed. Good, he thought. She sauntered across the room and perched herself on the corner of his desk, placing her hand on his. It was warm. It was comfortable, content. He felt it yet again, almost every time she came near...
"You know," she chided playfully, "there will be tons of hot, single, girls at this one. It's one of those stupid, sophisticated dinners at Gwen's house where she invites all of our old college friends. Don't worry, there will be guys. There will be a lot of people there, actually... So of course, that means all the alcohol imaginable, too. Although, just to be good guests we should bring something to drink, maybe a Merlot. No, too fancy. How about a big bottle of-"
"Mindy," he finally interrupted. "We're on the same boat here. I'm not interested in that right now. I'm not in the mood for a one-night-stand, okay?"
"So?" she pressed yet again, elongating the word dramatically, and squeezing his hand. He pried his eyes from their hands and looked up at her, shooting her his most cocky, smoldering expression.
"So... How am I supposed to focus on all those meaningless faces when I've got you on my desk right now, begging me for company tonight?" Danny teased playfully. But it definitely wasn't flirting.
"Danny!" she squealed, using the hand that was once placed gingerly on his to smack him playfully in the arm. Danny barely felt it, but he played along and pretended it hurt, for her sake. He could have sworn he saw her bite her lip before she quickly turned away. Gotcha.
"In your dreams buddy," she retorted, returning to her usual confident, Mindy, self. "So does this mean we're on for tonight?"
"Min..." He whined. He looked up into her soft brown eyes, now shining with the smile that lit up the remainder of her face. I guess I do make her kind of happy...
"I'll go." He said the words automatically, without even realizing he did so until she jumped up from the desk and did a little happy dance. Well, as much dancing as her form-fitting skirt and tall heels would allow.
"Perfect!" She exclaimed, knowing very well that she had won, yet again - per usual. He could usually get anything he wanted, until Mindy walked into the room that is.
Gwen opened the door and let Mindy and Danny into the massive house that had taken over an hour to get to, much to Danny's dismay. She held Mindy in a tight embrace as they started squealing about the latest celebrity gossip and what-not, while her husband, Carl, shook Danny's hand firmly, but in a very friendly way. Danny automatically didn't like the guy. Too happy. Upon this thought, his gaze drifted to Mindy, who was now already making her way into the home. Gwen greeted Danny with a sort of knowing smile that she always wore upon seeing him and Mindy together.
"Danny," Gwen smiled. "Nice to see you again." He wished she would wipe that grin off of her face already. She opened the door wider, gesturing for him to enter the house.
"Yeah, you too," Danny replied, still looking around the elaborate house, especially at the grand staircase ahead of him. When the door closed behind him he took of his brown, leather coat. He looked around and took in the general splendor of the place. Back on Staten, this is the kind of place that him and his buddies would make fun of, but secretly envied. That would explain his instant disliking of Carl.
"Good to see your arm healed. Sorry about that, again," he muttered awkwardly while scratching the back of his neck. He wore a black tee shirt and his nicest jeans - his usual, semi-formal-yet-still-casual-enough-for-jeans, party attire. Of course, his outfit had to be approved by his (sort of) date, who was now out of his sight. In fact, he couldn't see her anywhere near the entrance.
"Come on," Gwen replied, her smile somehow growing even larger and annoyingly all-knowing, and motioned for Danny to follow. "She's in the living room."
Somehow this chick always knew when he was thinking about Mindy. Maybe that's why she constantly wore that smile.
Throughout the night, Danny realized that the party wasn't actually all that bad so far. Not the worst he'd ever been dragged to by Mindy, anyway. Despite them sticking together for most of the night, Mindy had still managed to find a guy to flirt with. Well, hopefully it stopped there. When dinner came around, at least twenty people were all seated around an elaborate and giant dining table. By the time Danny entered the room and spotted Mindy, some guy was already pulling out her chair for her and sitting beside her. Go figure, he rolled his eyes. The only seat left - that wasn't beside some annoying, touchy, tipsy girl - was beside the douche-bag Mindy was talking to. Danny silently sat beside him, figuring that at least he'd get to keep an eye on the situation from here. He didn't really know why he so interested in Mindy's love affairs. It must be from what she told him earlier, about wanting to stay with him tonight. Or, you know, something along the lines of that.
The dinner conversations were actually relatively interesting, and Danny found himself able to follow along and even make a few jokes along the way. The positive attention he was receiving caught Mindy's eye, and she shot him a big smile, sticking her thumbs up enthusiastically, before - of course - turning back to tonight's boy toy. That's when something within him snapped. He knew she wasn't going home with this guy, so there would really be no harm in stepping in at this point, right? She couldn't be mad at him for doing exactly what she had intended him to do upon inviting him, which was to make sure sleaze-balls like this guy didn't end up in her bed. Tonight, Danny Castellano would be a cock-block, and he wasn't going to rest until that guy was out of the picture.
Her tinkling laugh pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Oh James, you're hilarious," Mindy flirted. It made Danny's stomach twist and he knew he had to put this plan into action before dinner ended. As soon as the drinks started flowing more freely, things would surely go downhill. Mindy turned to talk with Alex who was seated to her left - who Danny had succeeded in awkwardly avoiding all night - and what's-his-face was already making eyes at another, kind of trashy girl on the other side of the table. Now was Danny's chance.
"Hey man," Danny nudged the guy, James's, shoulder.
"Sup?" He barely acknowledged Danny before continuing what seemed to be an intense game of footsie with the trashy blonde across from him.
What this guy didn't know is that earlier in the night, Danny had overheard a conversation he was having with another douche-y looking guy regarding him already "boning" multiple girls at the party, and how Mindy was his next victim. Knowing too much about the way girls think was just one of the many things that came with befriending Mindy. Little had Danny known that it would actually come in handy in situations like this; situations that involved scaring a guy off.
"Let's be real here, you're going home with her tonight, right?" Danny asked, gesturing towards the blonde across from them. "I mean she's practically taking your clothes off with her eyes." He winced at this statement, for it reminded him of something Mindy would say. Great, now I even sound like her...
"Nah," James shook his head, turning towards Danny. "I'm kind of diggin' this one beside me here. What's her name? Mandy? I don't know but she obviously wants me, so why not? It's weird; I usually don't go for the bigger ones..." He mused.
It took every ounce of restraint Danny had to bite his tongue. His hands gripped the chair of his seat so hard his knuckles went a ghostly white, and he had to look away from the idiot to keep his composure. But now what? Danny hadn't planned anything past this point. He figured if he dangled the ditzy blonde in front of him, the guy would back off Mindy. But, seeing as that wasn't happening, Danny's mind pulled up a blank. So he played his usual card - he spat out the first thing that came to his mind.
"She's crazy," He blurted, and a little loudly, too. A few people turned towards the men in confusion, but no one seemed to ask any further and quickly returned to their conversations.
"Woah, what?" James turned back towards Danny, his eyes wary.
"Yeah," Danny continued cautiously. "You know, the whole 'fifteen cats, cries about everything, a total shut-in', you name it. Oh and the last guy she was with? Word is that he went over to her house to try and break up with her one night… No one's seen him since." There was no way this was going to work. It sounded way too cliché.
"Are you kidding me? I can't die yet, man!" He whispered with a panicked voice. "You can't be serious?"
"Uhm," Man, did he feel bad. No turning back now, I guess. "Yeah I - I am." Danny stuttered out awkwardly, unsure of how to handle this.
James's eyes squinted. "Wait, how do you know?"
"Mutual friends, don't worry about it," Danny muttered quickly. "Oh and did she tell you she was a doctor?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Well that's total bull. She just tells guys that to… you know."
"I can't believe it," James mused gullibly. Danny gulped. "Alright, what do I do?"
Danny sighed in relief. "Get outta here, dude. You're never gonna shake her if you don't." He leaned in and whispered, "One of those insane clingy types. You know, before she..." Danny made cutting motion across his throat, with a playful – borderline evil – glint in his eyes.
Let's just say, the guy didn't stick around for too much longer – he was out of the house in less than a minute.
Danny exhaled a long, relieved breath. He could finally relax knowing that Mindy would probably never see that loser again. He'd give her an excuse for now, but would probably cave and tell her the truth later; hopefully much later. She was going to be irate when he told her how he chased him away, but he really didn't mind all that much. He downed the rest of his drink and slid one seat over to be right next to Mindy. She was still chatting with Alex and a few other girls.
He was feeling a little buzzed and somehow found himself moving his hand toward her and gently grasping her shoulder, not wanting to intrude and interrupt her conversation, but just to make her aware that he also wanted her attention. He could tell she noticed him due to the way she physically relaxed under his touch, but she still didn't turn towards him. Danny began tracing lazy circles on her shoulder, impatiently wishing for her to turn around so he could have some decent company and have her to himself. His lazy mind almost didn't notice the feather-light touch of a hand grasping his knee. Danny's head shot down to his lap to find Mindy's hand slowly caressing his leg, starting at his knee and reaching all the way to his upper thigh. His heart slammed against his chest and he began sweating profusely while a lump formed in his throat. He couldn't wrap his head around what was happening and the alcohol wasn't helping. He was confused, sweaty and didn't know how to handle the situation.
"I… I – Mindy," He choked out, his voice barely a whisper.
He'd been turned on before, but nothing he'd ever experienced had felt like this. Every cell in his body was screaming for him to do something – problem was, his mind was racing so much he couldn't get a single thought across except 'What the hell is happening?'
A sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach – she thought he was the other guy, James. That's why she was doing this. She had never turned to look at Danny, so she had no idea he was there. Oddly, he felt disappointed. He knew he had to do something before things got worse.
"Mindy," He tried again, his voice thick with a deep, raw intensity. "Min, please," He whispered harshly. He didn't want to make a scene, but he was starting to get desperate. Her hand was still exploring his leg, not faltering once, so he grabbed it in his. He leaned in close to her ear, trying to keep his composure and remain nonchalant.
"Min, you might want to turn around…" Danny muttered in her ear. Mindy visibly stiffened. Finally, she whipped her head towards him.
"What, Danny?" She asked him, the annoyance clear as day in her voice. Danny lifted up his hand, which was still clutching hers tightly.
"I…" He attempted weakly. "You're kind of, you know." The realization suddenly dawned upon Mindy – her eyes popped out and an audible gasped escaped her lips.
"Oh my God!" She exclaimed loudly, her voice sounding strangled. At this point, most of the conversation in the room came to a halt and all eyes were on Mindy and Danny. "Wait, where is-?" She choked out, stopping herself upon realizing she was making a scene. Mindy turned towards the group and said "Excuse us for a sec."
She grabbed Danny's arm and firmly dragged him out of the room. She didn't stop until they were in some kind of den past the staircase. Danny found it odd that she didn't want to cause some kind of melodramatic scene in there. The Mindy he knew when they'd first met most definitely would have. Her shrill voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"What in the hell was that?!" She practically screamed. A furious blush spread across her face and she looked as if she was about to pass out. Danny thought her face looked simply priceless, and he couldn't help but egg her on just a little more…
"I believe that was you pulling a move on me," Danny announced proudly, a smug grin lifting his lips into his usual half-smirk. "You know, Min, if you want me you just have to tell me."
"Oh shut up!" She yelled, her blush intensifying. Danny realized he had never made her nervous or embarrassed before, it was always the other way around. "What happened to James?" She asked, her eyes squinting suspiciously.
"He left… Look, can we talk about this later?" Danny sighed, but his voice was still thick with amusement.
"Fine, whatever Danny," She huffed and returned to the dining room to rejoin the party. Danny, despite being terrified of her reaction when he would finally tell her what he had said to the guy to make him leave, couldn't help but feel a cocky giddiness ignite him. He'd succeeded, and not to mention, had once again won an argument with Mindy.
Rain pelted against the top of the cab. With the window rolled down only a sliver, Danny could clearly hear the calming sound of traffic whooshing along the slick city streets. His gaze constantly made its way to Mindy, who was staring out her window, never once glancing at Danny. He figured he'd better just get the truth out in the open. He looked straight ahead, not willing to watch her reaction.
"I got him to leave."
She looked straight ahead, mimicking his posture.
"Well I figured that much," She snapped back at him. This time, he turned to her.
"I kind of…" He took a deep breath. "I told him you were crazy and that you had a bunch of cats and you are overly attached and you might have killed your last boyfriend when he tried to break up with you. But I didn't mean to hurt your feelings! And I'm sorry, I just knew you didn't want to go home with a guy tonight especially some loser like that so I intervened and if you hate me I understand," Danny rambled hurriedly. Mindy's head whipped toward him. He noticeably winced, preparing for the worst.
"Are you-?" Mindy started to yell, but stopped herself. She stared straight ahead of her again and remained silent for a few seconds. Danny could have sworn his heart had stopped. Suddenly, Mindy let out a single chuckle, which quickly brought on an uncontrollable fit of giggles. Danny couldn't help but join her, for he found her tinkling, squeaky laugh infectious.
"I can't believe you," She giggled while shaking her head. "And he actually believed it?"
"Ran out of the room faster than me at that triathlon," Danny smiled, happy that she wasn't angry.
"Danny," Mindy turned to him. "I'm pretty sure that meant he would only have to reach a speed of like, two miles an hour to move anything near what you managed that day." This comment only brought on a whole new fit of laughter.
"Yeah, yeah laugh it up," Danny muttered, still smiling. He turned to face her and was greeted with a gleaming, proud smile that had spread across her face.
"Well, thank you," She said sincerely. He wasn't sure why he did it, but the next thing he knew Danny had slung his arm around her shoulders.
"Any time," Danny smiled. He found himself always smiling around her – unless, you know, she was driving him absolutely mental. Their faces were so close that Danny could feel her soft breath on his face. They just continued to look at each other, motionless. It took Danny back to the moment in the break room that night, back when he had almost… Oh god, he internally panicked. He knew he had to break up the moment before-
The cab came to a stop outside Mindy's apartment. Mindy was the first to snap out of it. She muttered something about this being her stop, but didn't move.
"Do you wanna, I don't know, like come up for a second?" She asked Danny. Her voice sounded small to him. A nervous lump clogged Danny's throat, so he merely nodded in response. Danny's next movements felt as if he was on auto-pilot; he paid the driver and they exited the vehicle into the cold, damp evening.
They walked wordlessly side by side until they reached the door to her apartment building. Danny's mind had been so clouded in the cab that he didn't realize what he had been doing - what he was about to do.
"Min, wait," He touched her arm gingerly. Mindy turned to face him, her eyes warm and inviting. Danny had to take a step back and look away to think clearly.
"I uhm, maybe I should go. I- I mean it's late! And we have work in the morning. I just-" he continued to splutter out until she cut him off.
"No, yeah totally," She agreed hurriedly, not meeting his gaze either. He scratched the back of his neck – his nervous tell – and she wrapped her arms around herself.
"You're right. It is pretty late I guess," She muttered. "I don't even know what I was thinking, we both work early and we should, uh, yeah." She laughed nervously, trying to ease the awkward tension. They finally looked up at each other. "Can I just ask you one thing?"
Danny inhaled sharply, once again left only able to nod in response.
"Why did you scare that guy – James, or whatever – off?"
"What do you want me to say, Mindy?" He replied tiredly. He tried to make an excuse. "Desperate times, desperate measures... you know!" He practically shouted, clearly uncomfortable with this topic of conversation.
"Okay, I was just wonder-"
"You said you didn't want to go home with anyone so I just assumed that also meant you didn't want to go home with him. I was being a cock-block, or whatever you call it."
She stayed quiet for a moment, her only response a shy smile. Quietly, it grew into a more mischievous one.
"So what? Do you think you're some kind of exception? " She asked, an amused tone veiling her voice as she gestured towards him, illuminating the fact that he was about to enter her apartment late at night... His face fell instantly. Danny's stomach flipped and he could feel the sweat pooling on his skin.
"What? No, that's not- I mean well yes, but-!" He panicked. Mindy started to laugh again, clearly pleased with his reaction. "And you're messing with me…" He muttered unenthusiastically, despite the smile that snuck its way across his lips, tilting them in his signature lopsided grin once more.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it!" She giggled. After another moment of laughter, she finally calmed down.
"Goodnight Danny. Thank you for everything tonight."
"Yeah," He moved toward her automatically. "It was nice."
"See you tomorrow?" She took a step towards him absentmindedly.
"Of course," He replied, his voice barely a whisper. His breath stopped in his chest as she continued to move towards him. Slowly, she lifted up on the tip of her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. She'd done this to him a handful of times before and he'd always been reluctant to take part. This time, though, he quickly allowed his arms to weave around her waist and pull her to him. She nuzzled her face into his neck which made him only hold her closer. He wasn't exactly sure how long they stayed like that.
They pulled away at almost the exact same time, but with Mindy lingering a fraction of a second longer than Danny. She turned from him and reached to open the door to her building. Before he could stop himself, Danny's hand reached for hers. It was familiar, small, and fit perfectly in his. He didn't attempt to pull her to him; he merely held her hand softly in his. She whipped back towards him, face full of wonder and confusion.
"Goodnight Min," He whispered weakly.
"Goodnight," She replied, his voice equally as quiet. Every part of him was screaming at him to stay, but he knew he couldn't go up there with her. Not now, not like this. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, so he just stayed there holding her hand in his. Mindy's eyes appeared glassy and wet, and Danny could sense that she was about to cry.
"Mindy, what's-?" He tried to ask before he was cut off by her ripping her hand from his. He looked down at his now empty hand, completely shocked and confused. When he looked up at her, she had gotten so close she was pressed up against him. She placed her hands on each side of his face and leaned in so her mouth was barely grazing his. She looked up at him, her eyes bearing so much emotion he couldn't begin to decipher it. So he didn't. He placed his hands on her waist and did what she was clearly waiting for him to do – he kissed her. He poured everything he had ever felt towards her into that one, not nearly long enough, kiss. The anger, passion, attraction, compassion, longing, gratitude, and tenderness he felt for her electrified his body as he passionately kissed her.
It wasn't one of those intense make-outs that were pure arousal and heat. No, it was everything he could have hoped for it to be. It meant something. And when they broke for air just a few short seconds later, every inch of him felt alive.
"Goodnight," She whispered again, her voice breathless, shaky, and thick with emotion. He reluctantly willed his hands to release her waist, and they took a step back from one another.
"Yeah, goodnight… again," He muttered, his face lighting up into a dazzling smile that brought a smile equally as bright to Mindy's face, too. His comment brought on a whole new round of laughter, which had started out tense and nervous, but then broke the heavy tension between them. After a few another minute of trying to say goodbye, Danny watched Mindy enter her apartment. He hailed a cab and began his drive home. He was still breathless and completely awestruck. Danny entered his apartment, throwing his keys and jacket on the couch carelessly and heading straight for bed. He rubbed his hand down his face and let out a quiet chuckle. It was full of wonder, disbelief and amazement. He couldn't recall ever feeling like this about a girl – or anyone, for that matter – before. He replayed the events of the night, letting out another short laugh.
"Well," He muttered out loud to himself, still smiling thinking about the dinner and what he had done to scare that guy away from Mindy, and the way she felt in his arms when they had kissed. "Crap."