A/N: Please let me know what you think!
Mindy couldn't sleep.
At first she thought it was because of her excitement about finally kissing Cliff. They had parted ways after the party; he was drained from fighting with Heather all week and she was starting to feel the after-effects of two bottle's worth of bra-wine. He asked to take her to dinner the next night and she happily said yes and had kissed him again before she headed back to her apartment.
However, the longer she laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling, the more she was starting to think that maybe it wasn't the Cliff stuff that was keeping her up. It was something else.
Mindy soon found herself bundled up and crawling out onto her fire escape, needing another breath of fresh air for the night. She did this a lot when she couldn't sleep or needed to think through something important. She loved the sounds of the city at night. It was always a nice reminder that, no matter how much insomnia she might be having, there were thousands of people around her who were also still awake for whatever reason.
She remembered when she had written to Danny over the summer about how much she had missed the New York sounds:
…Danny, you would hate it here. It's so quiet at night. Except for the sounds of bugs. As you of course know, I HATE bugs. There's nothing like the sound of NYC at night, you know? I'm sure you do. It's one of the things I miss about home. I wish you could send me a piece of New York-at-night so this feeling would go away and I could focus more on the work I'm doing here….
He had responded shortly after with a letter and the picture of the Empire State Building:
Mindy,
I hope this picture is a good enough piece of New York City for you until you get home. I know that's your favorite building. And I know exactly what you mean about the sounds of the city at night. There's something nice about knowing that you're not alone. It's quiet here in Jersey, so I miss the sound too. Sometimes I stick around the office a little late just to hear it. Don't tell Christina, she thinks I'm actually doing my job!
Oh and one more thing, don't forget that what you're doing in Haiti is helping so many lives and is really making a difference in the world. I know it's hard to be away from home, and I'm sure what you have to see everyday must be really tough sometimes, but what you're doing really matters. I'm so proud of you.
Anyways, I hope Casey's doing a good job of killing the bugs for you, and good luck with your work. I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back…
That's when it dawned on her. She couldn't sleep because she had this weird feeling about her and Danny. Mindy kept replaying the scene in her head. One moment he's making fun of her for her silly plan to trap Cliff, and the next he's dancing for her and they're hugging and they're just about to….
Mindy had been pretty sure that he was going to kiss her, but then when she pulled out the "step 3" on him, he turned her down. It was all very confusing.
"What the hell, Danny?" she asked aloud into the night. He'd seemed so weird after they were interrupted as well. Mindy really hated it when she could read him, especially when he seemed to understand her and her thoughts so easily all the time.
She pulled out her phone, deciding to text him, though not really sure what to say.
Hey Danny I just wanted to say thanks again for the secret santa gift. It was amazing!
After what felt like forever, he finally responded.
No problem, Min. I'm really glad you liked it. I hope you had a great night tonight.
She desperately wished to ask him how he was feeling or to ask him if he was going to kiss her, but she knew better than to make things awkward between them. So she quickly texted back.
I had a blast!
…
Good! Have a good night, Min.
…
Wait. You seemed a little weird when I left. Are you sure you're ok?
Mindy sat there with bated breath as the little "typing" image displayed on her phone for a good five minutes. She was starting to expect a long message, but the response he actually sent made her smile fondly at the memory.
Yeah, Min, you know me. I'm always ok.
She wasn't sure if she believed him, knowing how weird he can be about opening up about his feelings, but it would have to do for now.
