"Yeah, I have a glass of wine every night at dinner for my health."

"So Betsy's 24th birthday party must have been the healthiest night of your life?"

"Hey man! Those were Jagerbombs alright, not wine? So joke's on you Caste-lamo."

"How about Honeybee?" She turned to him with a lazy smile, wrapped in one of his flannel shirts and not much else. Sunday mornings were for spending in bed.

"What do you mean 'How about Honeybee?'" He reached out and touched the fraying collar, rubbing it between his fingers.

"You don't call me anything, Danny!"

He looked puzzled, "Yes, I do. I call you Mindy. Or Dr Lahiri, depending on context."

"No, I mean you've never given me a cute coupley nickname like Schmoopy."

He sat up a bit and leaned back on his elbows. "Schmoopy? What does that even mean?"

"It means if you loved me you would call me something that only you call me."

"I'm not calling you schmoopy. How about sweetheart?"

"You only call me sweetheart when you're patronizing me."

"I don't patronize you."

"Yes you do. Well you used to do it a lot more. But maybe you've come around to the understanding that I'm awesome and nothing you do is superior to anything I could do."

"Name one time."

"That time in the desert."

"I was drunk! And maybe a little mean."

"You're not mean. But you were patronizing."

"Okay so I'm a horrible monster who patronizes you."

"You're not a horrible monster, but you can't call me sweetheart."

"You can't push a man into giving you a nickname."

"I can, and I will. Do you know what Carl calls Gwen?"

"Why would I know that?"

"He calls her Cara Mia."

"Like from the Addams Family?"

"What do you mean?"

"Gomez calls Morticia cara mia."

She propped herself up on one elbow. "Is that what that's from? It's a little less romantic when you put it that way."

"It's actually kinda beautiful. It means my beloved. Do you want me to call you that?"

"No! That's Gwen's name! Doesn't anything about me inspire you to call me something?"

"Like how you used to call me Castellame-o?"

"Danny!" She was fully sitting up now and swung a pillow for his face.

He put his arms up just in time. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Stop hitting me!"

"Why can't you be more romantic like Carl?" She paused, "Yikes I cannot believe I just said that."

"I'm romantic. Well maybe not the kind of romantic like kissing in the rain, but didn't I get the mouse out of your microwave?"

"Danny!"

"I know how much you hate dealing with it and I took care of it for you. Who else would do that? I would like to know how it keeps getting in though."

"I think it's a magical realism mouse. Or a magical realism microwave. I'm not sure I understand magical realism. But that's beside the point. Dealing with an everyday chore is not romantic!"

"And did I or did I not warm your towel on the radiator while you were in the shower last night?"

"I take it back. You're very romantic."

"Now who's being patronizing?"

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Why am I not like Carl?"

"No, why not call me Honey Bee?"

"This is a Beyoncé thing, isn't it?"

"What makes you think that?"

"I listen to you. See? Romantic."

"That's not romantic, that's just being a boyfriend."

"Boyfriend, eh? He grinned widely. I don't think you used the b-word before."

"I didn't think I had to, you're clearly my boyfriend."

"So that's what I call you that no one else calls you. My girlfriend."

"Ugh, you are being purposefully obtuse I swear."

"Honeybee it is then. You shall be my Honeybee," he gestured with one arm grandly to the room.

"No, you can't just agree to something I picked for myself."

"Then why did you even suggest it? Also, what kind of nickname have you picked for me? Boss?"

"How about 'Little Buddy'?"

"Ugh."

"Okay so Sweetheart and Little Buddy are off the table. Although that does sound like a spin off of Honey Boo Boo that I would totally watch..."

"What's Honey Boo Boo? Is that a suggestion?"

"No! I cannot believe you don't know who Honey Boo Boo is. I might as well be dating Larry King. I take that back, Larry King probably knows who Honey Boo Boo is." She flopped back dramatically into the pillows.

"So no Sweetheart, no Honeybee, no Honeyboo and definitely no Little Buddy. And no schmoopy!"

"We're running out of options here, babe."

"Why is this important to you?" he asked earnestly.

She scooted closer to him and nuzzled against his chest. "I don't know. I guess it seems like we have started off part of the way into a relationship. We already knew each other. Well. We saw each other naked long before we had sex. We were friends before we were this. I feel like we missed out on all these couple milestones. I just don't want to miss anything."

He looked directly into her eyes, "Min. Don't you see how much better it is this way? We didn't miss out on anything, we got more than we could have hoped for."

He kissed her jawline, right next to her ear. "The awkward getting-to-know you stuff was out of the way. Our first date wasn't small talk, it was real." He nibbled down her neck. "Our first time together you didn't have to pull your Phantom of the Opera routine." He nipped the skin along her collarbone. "Let me assure you I had a great time."

"I guess," she said uncertainly. "But don't you think there's magic in discovering this stuff?"

"Sure, but there's plenty more we can discover. Speaking of which, there have been some surprises along the way," he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh my GOD, Danny! You ever never going to let me live that Moody Blues thing down are you?"

"Hey 'Nights in White Satin' is a beautiful song. I was just surprised by how, uh, strongly you reacted."

"What about you? Don't act like I haven't seen you listening to Jhené Aiko when you thought I wasn't around."

"What? She's kinda bluesy. I like it."

"So we still surprise each other. That doesn't stop me wanting something of our own, a little pet name that only you use."

He bent down to her neck again. "How about pumpkin?" He laid a soft kiss right behind her ear. "Pudding."

"Stop, you're being ridiculous."

"Sugar." he kissed her again, and unbuttoned the top button of the shirt. "Sweetiepie."

"No, stop," she said, but she didn't sound irritated anymore.

"Darling," he moved to the next button and stopped to plant another burning kiss right in the hollow of her throat.

"Stop it, you're not getting out of this conversation by distracting me with sex," her voice a little raw now.

"Are you sure?" he unbuttoned the shirt the rest of the way and ran his fingers along her stomach, circling her navel. "Min?"

She leaned back and smiled. Min. It sounded just about right. She reached over and hit her iPod dock and the room filled with familiar chords as Danny smiled and moved back up to kiss her on the lips. "The Moody Blues? Again?"

"Shut up, Dan."