A/n: This was my second attempt at writing for The Mindy project, I got a little discouraged from rude comments , which put me in a bit of a writers block, I have since finished that story and posted it on a different site, and after a little bit of reorganization will be re-posting the entire story on here again. Ive been listening to one of my fave bands "The Fray" new album and inspiration struck for a post 2x14 aka the Desert episode, the song is Break Your Plans, which is also the title of this fic, I will be using some lyrics of the song toward the end. I wrote this about a week before the show came back and exercised my fanfic writer creative license,so its not cannon, enjoy. This is ubetaed and I am in search of one, inbox if interested.
Summary: during/post 2x14 one-shot inspired by the Fray song "Break Your Plans. previously posted on AO3.
Break Your Plans
" Danny, Danny." Mindy said trying to get his attention as they sat on the New York bound plane.
" No. I'm not gonna get up again so you can walk the aisles, you're not gonna get thrombosis , I don't care what the Today Show says, I don't care." Danny said barely looking up from his book.
" Its not that, I want to apologize. It took a lot for you to make peace with your dad, I mean you did it in a completely melodramatic way. I could have gone without wandering around the desert, I sat on a armadillo, killed it ,that was not good for my self esteem, but you're not mean , you're great." Mindy said smiling shyly at him.
" Hey , look and I'm sorry about what I said about Cliff, you weren't lucky to be with him, he was lucky to be with you... Hows that letter going ?" Danny said quickly changing the subject, before he let something slip that he shouldn't.
" Can I read you the first part?" Mindy said wanting to get his perspective ,and possibly his approval of her letter. Going to Danny for his approval or disapproval,whether she listened to it or not, even more then she had with Gwen, had become a habit with her, when exactly, she couldn't pinpoint.
"Sure." Danny said laying his head back against the headrest as Mindy read to him what she'd written so far.
"No, No, that, that's not , can I help you?" Danny said imagining Cliff's reaction if Mindy sent him what she had written so far, it wouldn't solve anything, most likely it would make things worse. Mindy and Cliff not reuniting wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, a thought he quickly shook out of his head.
" Ok." Mindy said willing to accept his help. Danny was often right, something she would never admit out loud, let alone to him directly.
"Ok... how about something like this...Dear Cliff please forgive me, I'm sorry I was so stupid and reckless with your heart." Danny said after taking a moment to think.
"Oh My God ,keep it coming little Shakespeare." Mindy said clearly impressed.
" OK. You know you're right for someone when they force you to be the best version of yourself , that's how I know we're right for each other Cliff . " Danny says. He couldn't help but sneak little glance at Mindy as he said those words.
Mindy finishes typing and sends the email, while Danny keeps glancing at her , wishing he had said all those things replacing Cliffs name with hers. After she hit send ,she turned to face Danny again.
"Hey, I really appreciate this, thank you so much, and as payment, one tonic water." Mindy said her spirits high and anticipatory of reconciliation with Cliff.
"Thanks." Danny said, he couldn't help himself gently guiding her with his hand as she got out the seating area and toward the aisle of the plane.
"I will be right back." Mindy said before making her way down the aisle and toward the back of the plane.
He'd made her break her plans, twice already in the past two days. The first time not taking her to the airport, but instead in the opposite direction to confront his father with him . The Second time, getting lost and drunk in the desert, making her lose another flight. And as the plane shook and he froze out of fear in his seat, mind racing , heart beating and hand reaching for someone who wasn't there. He knew he was going to make her break her plans one more time.
As the turbulence stopped, he made his way down the aisle of plane, and to the path that led to Mindy. He stopped for a split second watching her examine the water, and before he could chicken out he made his move. It was now or never.
" Hey." Danny said, despite his voice being low and raspy she heard him.
"Hey Danny ,all these waters look the same, I just don't..." Mindy says turning toward him.
But before she could utter another word, Danny moved in closer to her grabbing the water from her hand,depositing it elsewhere, and in the same swift motion, gently grabbing her face in his hands and joining his lips with hers, gently and sensually kissing her.
This completely took her by surprise. Then he took a second to stop and look at her in away she'd never seen. His eyes glued to hers, his hands lovingly caressing her face, before moving in again to reclaim her lips. This time a little more prepared, she responded to his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling them closer so that there was no space left between their bodies.
Her hands moved from his neck to his back then again to his neck, deepening the kiss. As his hands groped her butt and her back before moving back up to her face. After a few minutes they both pulled away out of the necessity to catch their breaths.
Neither said a word, but held each others gaze, both breathing deeply. Mindy didn't know what to think. One minute she was looking through bottles and cans of water, the next, she was caught up kissing Danny. He'd initiated it, he'd kissed her and she'd kissed him back. She'd had her tongue in Danny's mouth, her arms around his neck, his hand had been on her ass. She could feel her cheeks brighten as she relieved the kiss and grope fest that had just occurred with Danny Castellano.
"Mindy..." Danny said. He couldn't think of what else to say after that. He'd done it, he'd kissed her. Realistically, he expected her to maybe slap him, or make a joke, push him away even, but she'd kissed him back, pulled them closer together, deepening it.
"Cliff..." Mindy said breaking her gaze and looking down.
"Wait what?" Danny said confused, did she just say Cliff?
"Danny, I'm sorry...Cliff..." Mindy said then quickly walked away from him and back toward their seats.
Leaving a dumbstruck Danny, standing there not knowing what to think. Instead of following her back to their seats, he made his way to the lavatory. Locking the door and running his hands down his face followed by a heavy sigh.
"What did you think was gonna happen Castellano, that she'd give up Cliff for you just because you kissed her,you idiot!" Danny said looking at his reflection in the mirror. He slammed his fist down on the bathroom sink. Calming down he turned on the faucet ran the water over his face.
Danny then proceeded to take a deep breath and exit the lavatory. He painstakingly made his way down the aisle and back to their seats. Mindy was asleep, or at least she looked to be asleep. Danny thought about shaking her awake. A part of him wanted her to explain,and to let him explain why he'd kissed her, but another part of him couldn't face her rejection again, so he returned to reading his book.
Hours passed, Mindy still sleeping, Danny starring at his book. He had been on the same page for the last half hour, no longer able to run away from his thoughts by focusing on his book. The captain of the plane's voice came over the intercom announcing their upcoming descent into New York.
Mindy stirred next to him, she rummaged through her purse, not looking at Danny. Danny couldn't bring himself to look at her either. Neither said a word to the other, not when they landed, and not when the aisles were clear for them to grab their stuff and exit the plane.
Danny always the light packer, got up out of his seat, grabbing his small suitcase out of the overhead rack. Bringing it down , he turned to Mindy, taking a second before speaking.
" See you at the practice." He said monotone, before turning to walk away dragging his suitcase behind him.
Mindy didn't know what to say. What could she say to him, that she was scared, confused, that she hadn't meant to walk away from him like that. Or pretend to be asleep, so she didn't have see that look of disappointment and sadness on his face. Why did he have to kiss her, stupid Danny. Why'd she have to kiss him back, stupider Mindy.
For someone who delivered long inner monologues daily, she couldn't put two sentences together to tell Danny how she was feeling after the kiss. She just couldn't make sense of the jumble that was going on in her mind, and of all moments. She wanted to tell him that she needed time to figure out things with Cliff, before she could even process what was happening with her and Danny.
But her stupid mouth was only able to spit out five words, then she'd panicked and walked away. She was so confused and embarrassed, angry and sad all at once. Why now why would he kiss her now , and OH MY GOD, what a kiss.
Mindy snapped out of her thoughts, when she saw the looks the flight attendant was giving her, so she grabbed her purse, then did her usual struggle to get her other carry on down out of the overhead rack. Her bag secured she made her way down the aisle out of the plane and into the airport.
She knew there was no way she'd catch up to Danny, even if she did, she'd have no idea what to say to him, or even if he would be willing to listen. Was this it, was their friendship over, the strange way he'd spoken those last words to her, devoid of emotion. Making her way to baggage claim she grabbed her additional suitcases then went outside to catch a cab home.
They didn't see each other again till a week later, with three out of four of the practices doctors being gone for a week, their return was filled with back to back appointments. Mindy had glimpsed Danny walking away a couple of times, but he was gone before she could catch up to him.
She'd given in after a couple of days , calling and texting him, but received no response. He'd been taking his lunches out of the office, and it seemed he was even avoiding the break room at the hospital, because she knew he had surgeries that week. If she wasn't so busy she'd try to catch him in his office, but when he was there, she was usually with a patient.
It wasn't like she could barge in on Danny and one of his patients, but she was starting to feel like that would be her only way to catch the handsome jerk.
Danny was in fact avoiding Mindy. He'd covertly asked Betsy when Mindy would be in the office and made sure to avoid being around the practice when she was. Mindy had almost caught up to him a couple of times, but he'd managed to speed up, knowing she wouldn't be able to catch up with those ridiculous shoes she wore. Practical or not, she did look good in them, Mindy always looked beautiful in anything she wore.
He'd heard from Morgan and Peter that Mindy had made plans at the end of the week with Cliff once she'd returned to New York. After the initial pang in his heart, he'd sucked it up and figured if he distanced himself, it would hurt less. He would get over Mindy, and Mindy would have what she wanted, she'd be happy. No matter how much it hurt, he'd always want her to be happy, even if it wasn't with him.
Danny was in his office when he heard a knock on the door, part of him hoped it was Mindy. His avoidance hadn't made it easier to get over her, not seeing her made it worse. He couldn't help but replay their kiss. The way she wrapped her arms around his neck, how right it felt ,her body fitting perfectly with his like two puzzle pieces.
"Come in." Danny said shaking the thoughts from his head.
When Jeremy walked into his office, a part of him was disappointed , while another part of him was relieved. Mindy's appearance would bring him happiness at seeing her, then sadness upon remembering her rejection of him.
" What's going on Danny?" Jeremy said serious expression.
"What do you mean?" Danny said, absentmindedly shifting papers on his desk to avoid Jeremy's eyes.
"You've been acting strangely ever since you and Mindy returned from Los Angeles, in fact, you both have." Jeremy said.
" I don't know what you're talking about, I've been acting the same way I always act." Danny said.
"Oh, really, so you haven't been avoiding Mindy?" Jeremy asked.
"No, why would I be doing that?" Danny said looking at Jeremy like what he'd just said was absolutely ridiculous , not to mention false.
" I don't know, you tell me?" Jeremy said, not giving up. He'd heard about all the drama of Mindy and Cliff, which would explain her behavior. But he couldn't quite figure out what was going on with Danny, and he had a feeling, his not so subtle avoidance of Mindy had something to do with it.
"There's nothing going on, I'm not avoiding Mindy, me and her, we're fine." Danny said, but his eyes betrayed his words.
"Whatever is going on fix it, we can't have this kind of tension or animosity in the practice, the patients, as well as the staff can pick up on these things you know." Jeremy said then walked out of Danny's office.
"Alright, alright, got it." Danny said.
"One more thing Danny, just tell her how you feel." Jeremy said with a wink before walking away.
Danny sighed , banging his head on his desk a couple of times. That wouldn't solve anything he'd already tried that. He processed Jeremy's words again and realized he was wrong, he'd kissed her, but he hadn't told her in actual words how he felt. He wouldn't be able to move on until he has, if he tells her how he feels and she rejects him again then ok, he'd let her go.
"Betsy!" Danny yelled.
"Everything alright ?" Betsy said coming into his office.
"No. Yes, it will be hopefully...is Mindy in her office?" Danny asked. Jeremy was right, he needed to fix things. He thought no one would notice the distance he'd been intentionally been putting between himself and Mindy, if Jeremy noticed, everyone must have too. It was time to stop hiding and avoiding her, it was time to tell her how he felt.
"No, Dr. L went home early to get ready for her date with Cliff. Can I help you with anything else?" Betsey asked, chipper as always.
"How long ago did she leave?" Danny asked grabbing his messenger bag as he spoke to Betsey.
"About thirty minutes, are you sure you're ok Dr . Castellano?" Betsey said worried.
"Yeah, going to the gym." Danny said then practically ran out of his office. Betsey couldn't help but notice he didn't have his gym bag with him. She shrugged and went back to the receptionist desk.
Danny made his way to the elevator, he had driven to work today so he then headed to his car. If Mindy had gotten on the subway when he figured she had , he be able to make it to her apartment, a little before or at the same time as she would.
He ended up beating her. He stood nervously outside of her apartment waiting for her to arrive. She had just posted on facebook a photo of a pastry she'd gotten from a bakery down the street, so he knew she was about five minutes away or less from her apartment.
Mindy took a last bite of her cream filled treat as she walked the hallway leading to her apartment, she stopped when she spotted a sweating Danny standing in front of her apartment door. Her first emotion was happiness at seeing him. she'd missed him. The second was anger, anger at him avoiding her, not answering her phone calls or texts.
"So you are alive." Mindy said walking up to him.
"Yeah." Danny said , not knowing what else to say, now that Mindy was in front of him the speech he'd been practicing had flown out the window.
Mindy pulled out her keys stepped in front of him and opened her door. Danny wasn't sure what to do, should he stand outside her door, should he follow her in.
"You coming in?" Mindy asked making the choice for him.
Danny walked in closing the door behind him. He wasn't sure what to expect when Mindy saw him, but her behavior was confusing, he couldn't tell if she was happy to see him, or angry at him.
"What do you want Danny?" Mindy finally said after a few minutes of silence.
"I..uh..I wanted to talk..." Danny said, just when he thought he'd sweated his pores dry, he started to sweat even more.
"Well talk,and make it quick, I have plans." Mindy said heading to one of her closets. One Danny had been in a couple of times.
"With Cliff?" Danny asked.
"Yeah with Cliff..." Mindy said as she looked through her clothes.
"Break your plans." Danny said.
"Why, why would I do that , Danny?" Mindy said stopping and facing him.
"Because...I...because..." Danny began but couldn't find the words.
"Because what, spit it out Castellano!" Mindy said frustrated, and not realizing she had moved and was standing a few inches from him.
"Because,Min, he doesn't deserve you, he was lucky to be with you, he was a fool to let you go. I'd be just as big as a fool, if I let you get back together with him without telling you, how I feel!"
"Danny, how do you feel?" Mindy said looking into his eyes.
"I'm in love with you Min, I have been for awhile. It wasn't until Amy that it finally hit me, she saw my feelings before I realized I had them. It took being on that plane ,knowing what would happen when we landed, that you'd run back to Cliff, to know I didn't want to lose you, not to Cliff, not to anyone. You force me to be the best version of myself, its why we belong together, you and me, Min, not Cliff." Danny said. That same look in his eyes as when he was kissing her on the plane.
"Danny..." Mindy said blinking back tears.
"That's why, I want you to break your plans, for me, tonight. Will you stay and be with me? " Danny said taking her hand.
Danny's avoidance, though unnerving had given her time to think, to process. She figured out what she wanted. She would have talked to Danny first, but with him avoiding her, she decided maybe she should talk to Cliff first. They'd made plans to have coffee whenever her schedule opened up, which had been today. She was gonna tell Cliff that she was done, they had no future if he couldn't trust her. She had no intentions of mentioning Danny, or the kiss. Yes part of not getting back together was because of Danny, but the other was his reluctance in their relationship, the whole moving in thing. Cliff, whether he realized it or not, had been looking for a way out.
Mindy couldn't be with someone that had one foot in , one foot out. She deserved someone who wanted to be with her wholeheartedly. When Danny said he was in love with her , the way he looked at her, she knew in that moment he was that someone.
"Ok." Mindy said looking up at him, smile on her face, tears continuing to fall.
Danny gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs before leaning in and kissing her. This kiss unlike the first was sweet and gentle, more love then lust in it. He'd managed to break her plans yet again, and as long as the love between them was never broken, they'd be alright.
A/n: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this. Those who've read my stories before and who understand the meaning behind my pename: Pessimistic Romanticist, know that I love to write romantic angst, I'm a realist, but I'm also a huge romantic and the way that I apply this to my writing is that I make the characters(both mine or existing) work for their happy endings, I feel like its sweeter that way , anywho hope y'all enjoyed this, thanks for reading.
-Pessi. Rom