Disclaimer: I do not own any characters established with the Mindy Project. Also, this story will contain adult language and themes. This is a continuation of Selfie #8 in Sixteen Selfies and it is strongly suggested that you read that installment (also titled Dearly Beloved) prior to reading this story; however, the story can be read on its own.

The alarm on her phone cut dutifully through her early morning haze, promptly ending a dream that was already half forgotten. Mindy Lahiri allowed only one eye to briefly blink, thinking that keeping one eye staunchly closed would somehow keep her within sleep's blessed reach, while she mentally catalogued her short list of options: she could either a.) silence the alarm and, against every screaming, reluctant bone in her body, commence with her morning routine and head to the practice; b.) again, silence the alarm and forgo the idea of showing up to work entirely, leaving her the day to wallow miserably in the solitary confinement of her apartment or, c.) hit the snooze button, temporarily return to sleep, and revisit her options when she was ten more minutes refreshed. Each choice had its pros and cons.

Going to work would show a certain brand of strength and confidence that, ideally, most would find admirable. That logic stemmed from a simple truth: not too many people could publicly flee from their own wedding, in front of God, all of their loved ones and colleagues, and return to work the following Monday. She figured that surviving the stares and the spread of hushed gossip about her alone would require Beyonce Pad Thai levels of resilience. The strength to do so existed within her somewhere, of that she was certain.

It was the questions, though, that made her the most apprehensive. Not just any question, surely, but questions from the likes of Morgan, Beverly, and Peter. The judgment from Jeremy and the pity from Betsy and Tamra weren't anything to look forward to, neither. Even the assured support of at least one fellow doctor might not have been enough to help her sustain all of that.

Staying home, however, didn't immediately register as such a great alternative. Without the distraction of her work or friends, Mindy would be left alone with her self-deprecating thoughts. Spending the whole day by herself in her apartment while she mentally beat herself up sounded like something that she should avoid. What's done is done, she'd reminded herself repeatedly since Saturday afternoon, but that did nothing to silence the utter hatred she felt towards herself. She imagined that the feeling would only magnify as the day progressed and by nightfall she would be nothing more than an emotionally drained heap on her bed, wishing that she had just gone to work.

She then realized that either choice would lead to the same outcome: the emotionally drained feeling, the self-deprecation, the self-pity, and the embarrassment. It was all pretty inescapable, no matter where she was.

But at least there was wine at home, along with a comfortable bed, pajamas, ice cream, and Ellen Degeneres on her DVR. And, if she were honest with herself, the prospect of taking a shower just wasn't all that appealing at the moment. If she were going to spend the day immersed in guilt, she might as well be comfortable. With that, she silenced her alarm and sent a quick text to Jeremy informing him that she was taking a personal day and would need Betsy to reschedule her appointments.

She knew that she had to face it all at some point…just not today.

Danny Castellano had to admit that despite his instincts, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

He knew there was no way that she would come in and face everybody this soon and honestly, he thought, who in their right mind would? They worked with a group of very invasive, albeit well-meaning people who didn't believe in boundaries or self-filtering; it would have been a disaster before their second round of appointments. The best thing, obviously, was for her to stay home and collect herself before she had to deal with everyone on a professional level.

But a part of him couldn't help but root for the small possibility of Mindy marching in determinedly, figurative guns blazing as she faced everyone and declared, "Yes. Yes, I did leave that boring, smug jerk at the alter as I was physically making my way down the aisle. Who has something smart to say about it?!" It would have been something so brave – so fiercely her – and that would have surely shut everyone up. It would have been something he couldn't help but stand behind and champion.

Still, Danny understood her reasoning behind calling out of work. Despite his personal feelings regarding the whole display, it was still a lot to process and she needed the time and privacy to do so before facing the masses. He got that. It just felt like such a missed opportunity after something that he thought was, underneath all of the pandemonium, pretty courageous.

...

He hadn't meant to sit so closely to the aisle, but the rapidly filling pews left him very few options and the only available seating was on Elliot's side and next to Mindy's elderly, surly-looking relatives. The aisle seat next to Betsy, as undesirable as it was, looked the least uncomfortable.

Betsy, bouncing in her seat and covered head-to-toe in a pink and yellow floral dress, turned to Danny with an excited smile. "I cannot wait to see Dr. Lahiri's dress," she squealed. "I bet it's dripping with diamonds and has a thirty-foot train! She must look like a princess."

Danny furrowed his eyebrows. "Betsy, I'm sure she'll look nice, but I doubt the dress will be that extravagant. Have you been to many weddings?"

"Oh, I've been to plenty of simple family weddings," Betsy explained brightly, "but nothing this sophisticated, nothing thrown by a practicing sinner."

Danny nodded his understanding and waited for the ceremony to start. The inexplicable anxiety he had felt all week felt like it was growing as the minutes ticked away on his wrist watch. He was ultimately happy for Mindy's big moment (something that she had romanticized quite vocally since the day they had met) if that meant that she would be happy, but he simply could not muster enough excitement for how much things would change. She would be Dr. Lahiri-Mjeckwindowski (which he had just learned how to properly pronounce after almost two years). Elliot would be in the background all the time. They would eventually have kids, which would mean that her time would be forever split between the practice and her family at home. Would there even be enough time to hang out with her friends? With him? At that point would it even be appropriate for them to hang out like they do now?

Furthermore, there had always been this weird, undefined tension between him and Elliot, so seeing him waiting at the alter for his best friend made him shift uncomfortably in his seat. He had always hoped that he would be another temporary fixture in their world until someone better came along, even after the first year had passed. Danny held onto that hope up until the very moment he witnessed Elliot kneel before Mindy at the office Christmas party and propose. If he really thought about it, he may have even held on to the possibility beyond that.

So sitting in the church now, waiting for Mindy to seal her fate with this tall, smarmy, blonde investment banker (Ugh, he groaned internally) felt a little like watching her walk to her death. It was a struggle to put on (and maintain ) a mask of unrelenting support.

He heard the music of the string quartet, stationed at the head of the church, change as the mothers of the bride and groom were ushered in by Rishi and a man who Danny assumed was Elliot's younger brother. They were soon followed by a line of paired attendants in black and pink suits and dresses, including Gwen and Alex (whose eye contact he was sure to avoid), then Riley and a little boy, both looking very reluctant in their roles as flower girl and ring bearer. Once the party was lined up in their well-rehearsed positions, the congregation was asked to rise to their feet for the entrance of the bride. The doors at the back of the church swung open and revealed Mindy as she stood with her father, their arms linked.

She was a breath-taking sight. Her dress didn't quite "drip with diamonds" nor was there an obscenely long train, but her beaded bodice gently hugged her figure and a smooth river of satin flowed well past her feet and glided behind her as she slowly made her way down the aisle. Danny could vaguely see the flashing lights and hear the snapping of cameras in the perceived distance, but he was unable to truly focus on anything but her. Mindy was positively stunning.

Her expression, however, was not what he had anticipated. For someone who had been planning her wedding since she was in elementary school, he figured that she would look ecstatic, eager, unfalteringly optimistic, or at the very least happy. Instead, she looks petrified. Even though the dress restricted the entirety of her rib cage, he could still see how heavy she was breathing. She attempted to smile, but it wasn't anything at all like the ones that reached her eyes. It was the smile of someone who was trying way too hard to appear much happier than she was. Danny looked around to see if anyone else noticed, but everyone around him appeared to be too busy taking pictures. Something didn't feel right.

Suddenly, she turned to him and they locked eyes as her father's gaze remained forward. She looked terrified, as if she were silently crying for help, but she kept her mouth shut. No, this wasn't right.

"Are you okay?" he mouthed.

At that, she swallowed hard, then looked ahead towards the man waiting for her next to the priest. After a moment her trek slowed noticeably. She eventually came to a complete halt just inches away from Danny. Her father turned his head towards her, visibly confused, and called her name under his breath while urging her to continue. Mindy remained still as her breath got heavier. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Mindy?" Danny called out cautiously, unable to help himself. It seemed to snap her out of her trance long enough for her to snap her attention to him in panic, then back to the front.

"No no no," she mumbled faintly, just audible enough for him and his row of guest to hear. "Oh, no. No no no."

"Mindy!" Her father called a little more firmly, but low enough to only be heard by a small circumference of guests around them.

Mindy shook her head slightly, then more vigorously as she continued to say "no" repeatedly. The chorus of whispers and gasps surged while the color in Elliot's face drained almost as instantly as he was able to summon a look of complete shock. He looked like he was about to call out her name when she cried, "I'm so sorry. Elliot, everybody, I'm so, so, so sorry." She then unhooked her arm from her father's, turned around and hiked up her dress. Before anyone could stop her, she was running back up the aisle and through the church doors in a flash.

Before he even realized what he was doing, Danny was alongside Mindy's father as they ran after her, surrounded by loud chatter and shouting. By the time they had made it outside, a cab was already pulling off from the curb in front of the church and Mindy was nowhere to be seen. He knew that Mindy was in that cab, and he had a feeling he'd know where to find her.

...

If he didn't care so much about looking like such an awful friend, Danny would tell Mindy that the reoccurring memory of her running from Elliot provided a reliable source of comfort for him the remainder of the weekend. Naturally, he felt awful about the anguish and embarrassment she was suffering, but he was just so glad that she had managed to dodge, potentially, one of the hugest mistakes she could have ever made. He wanted to continue to be of comfort to her, but he was also anxious for them to get to a place where she could really appreciate that she had made the right decision, regardless of how dramatic the revelation may have been. There was someone better for her out there, he was certain of it.

The day progressed pretty slowly. He avoided as much Mindy-related office chatter as he could while fitting in as many of her originally slated appointments as his schedule would allow. When there was a lull in the late afternoon, Danny whipped out his phone and typed a quick text.

Took on a few of your appointments today so
you only had to reschedule two. I hope you got
some much needed rest. See you tomorrow, champ?

To: Mindy
Apr 14, 3:42 p.m.

Mindy tore her teary eyes from the Kate Winslet movie at the sound of her phone buzzing with an incoming text message. She quickly read the message from Danny and felt a tiny appreciative smile tug at the right corner of her mouth. She had gone back and forth between holing herself up in her apartment for one more day and returning to work. She couldn't see herself waking up the next morning feeling any better than she did at 6:00 a.m. that day, but the reminder that she had someone in her corner - one of the few people that actually mattered – made her feel just a little stronger and more prepared to deal with this mess hands on. She replied.

Don't know what I'd do without
you, Danny. See you tomorrow. :o)

To: Danny
Apr 14, 3:45 p.m.

The day was bound to come, Mindy thought to herself with a sigh, so why not tomorrow?

A/N: Hi there! For those of you who read Sixteen Selfies you may have seen the part where I said that I would be taking a brief break to read. That technically was not a lie; I did read a little more than usual. But the direction of one of the Selfies installments really nagged at me today until I eventually pounded out an outline. I didn't expect to write a chapter today, but here we are. I will eventually finish B.J.'s book before the end of the year, I'm sure of it.

This is a continuation of the Selfie #8 in Sixteen Selfies. Again, I would recommend reading that first before delving into the story (if you haven't read the series yet, you should! :o) )

So this will be a multi-chapter story, roughly thirteen chapters. I'm excited to see where this goes and I really hope you come to enjoy it! Please leave a review, if you can. I would love to hear from you!

Have a great evening and Hollaatchyagirl,

Phunky