I rather like this one. For the record, I realize I'm probably torturing all of you. And I'm totally OK with that. To quote a show that I used to love until they got the leads together in a way that I did not like at all: "everything happens eventually."

Mindy was procrastinating at the front desk, avoiding the pile of paperwork in her office from her busy day as the only doctor in the office yesterday. Jeremy was telling the ladies of the office about his long weekend and Betsy blushed slightly as he threw a wink her way when he said that he wished she would have been able to join him and his visiting parents for lunch. Danny strode into the office, clearly in a mood. He had been out unexpectedly yesterday and Mindy hadn't talked to him since before the weekend.

"Mindy, can I talk to you," he said more than asked with what seemed to be an attempt at restraint.

She knew immediately that he was upset. He let her pass first into his office before closing the door behind them, no doubt creating curiosity amongst their colleagues.

"What were you thinking? Why would you tell my Mom about my fight with Tony?"

"You haven't talked to your brother in a month and you've been all sulky about it! I just thought your mother could get you back together again."

"Did you think maybe there was a reason we didn't tell her? We don't involve her because we don't like to worry her! It's practically the only thing we agree on. God, you are so infuriating sometimes. I didn't ask for your help!" His voice become louder with each statement he made.

Mindy whispered an apology before rushing out of his office.

Danny hit the edge of his desk with his fists and then held onto it with a white-fingered grip in both hands. He was angry, though not all at Mindy. He was angry at himself because he had obviously upset her. Were her actions over the boundary of appropriateness? Sure. Were they well-intentioned? Always.

He walked across the main office floor, ignoring curious glances, and softly knocked on Mindy's door. She didn't answer but he went in anyway. He saw her sitting at her desk chair, tears in her eyes. A wave of shame ran through his body as he wiped his face with both hands.

"Oh shit, I made you cry? God, I am such an ass. I'm sorry, Mindy."

She jumped up. "No, Danny. You're right. I am so sorry. I shouldn't have involved your mother. It's your business. I had no right to intrude."

She grasped his hands with hers and she felt like she could practically feel her heart break when he pulled away. But then, the next emotion was surprise when he raised his hands to her face, cupping her cheeks with a tenderness she had actually felt from him before. It was like the moment in the lounge when he cleaned her glasses and that time in the prison when he sutured her cuts. This time, he gently wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. His hands lingered on her face as he spoke.

"Hey, I know you were just trying to help. I overreacted. I know that's just what you do when you care about someone."

She stepped away from his grasp slightly, still upset with herself.

"It doesn't make it right though, Danny. I shouldn't butt into people's lives. I always do that and it always gets me in trouble."

"I know, but it's what makes you, you. And I wouldn't change that for anything."

"Even if it's infuriating?"

"I said that in the heat of the moment. Most of the time, it's actually kind-of adorable. And you should take that seriously because I do not use the word 'adorable' lightly."

"Yea," she asked a bit shyly, quite atypical for her.

"Mindy, you have helped me more than you know this year. And you should seriously ignore me anytime I say that I didn't ask for something from you because usually it's what I don't ask for that I end up needing from you."

"OK," she responded slowly, still a bit doubtful, but willing to accept his forgiveness. "But, from now on, I promise to try to not be quite so involved in things that aren't my business."

Danny nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good thing to work on."

He pulled her into a hug and she held on a bit tighter than she probably should have. She released her arms and they both pulled back, though Danny didn't drop his arms right away. She looked at him with uncertainty. He leaned in and kissed her forehead, causing her eyes to flutter closed for a moment. She opened them again when she felt him pull away and saw for just the briefest second that there was something different in his eyes when he looked at her. He cleared his throat and stepped back a bit awkwardly. She searched for words to ease the tension.

"Can I ask…was your Mom upset?"

"Well, she's used to us fighting. We've been this way since we were kids. She convinced him to come over for Sunday dinner. We didn't really resolve anything, but we basically agreed to disagree. I could tell my Mom was disappointed though and I feel like she expects me to solve it because I'm older. It's always my job to make things OK for Tony and I'm just sick of it. But, I hate disappointing her and making her worry. That's why I was so upset that you told her what was happening."

"You know, the responsibility doesn't fall only on you. Tony has to step up to the plate. I don't even know what the fight was about, but there's always two people contributing in any argument."

"I guess you're right. It's just a hard habit to break."

Mindy shrugged and nodded, showing her understanding of this statement.

"You know, this was our first friend fight."

"We've definitely argued before, Mindy."

"Sure, but that was mostly just banter. This was like intense and it's the first one since we've become real friends."

"You look oddly pleased by that."

"Well, it's an important step in our relationship! We fought and the friendship survived it. We're better than ever, Danny!" She practically squealed the last sentence as she hooked her arm in his and dragged him into the main office, announcing to the others (who were pretending that they hadn't been listening outside of the door) that they successfully resolved their first fight.