She's going to pass out right here in the hallway. She's going to hyperventilate and just give herself a panic attack or an asthma attack and even though she doesn't have asthma, she needs an inhaler or something because she is going to pass out.
Danny Castellano is in love with her.
Danny Castellano is in love with her, Mindy Lahiri.
She can't.
"Mindy." His voice breaks her out of her pre-panic attack and she stands up quickly, shaking her head.
"Yeah?" she responds, choosing now to lean against the wall, because if she doesn't get something to support her she is definitely going to tip over.
"Min... can I open the door now?"
She inhales and exhales a bit, trying to get some air into her lungs. "Yes. Yeah, you can open it." She hears it unlatch and slowly, it swings wide and he steps out. She closes her eyes, takes a few breaths and then opens them again, and he's standing right in front of her, and she can smell the bourbon on him but she can also smell something else... that damn cologne of his. Dark and musky and woodsy and so specifically him and she feels like she's going to pass out again, but she simply takes another breath and looks up at him. He's grinning that lopsided grin of his, and her knees go weak a little. Thank God for this wall.
"Can I hang up now?" he jokes, the phone still pressed to his ear. She nods, and presses end on her phone as well, sliding it into the pocket of her jacket. She watches as he deposits his phone into his back pocket and then stands in front of her, arms crossed against his chest.
"So..." he begins.
"Sooooo."
"That was...a lot."
She giggles. "Yes."
"I hope you're not too upset about me leaving you out here in the hallway. It's just that... you know. I..." He trails off and looks down for a bit and then back up to her, trying to read her face.
"No, I get it," she responds, trying to take some of the weight off of his shoulders. She truly does. Danny's not the most vocal person when it comes to his feelings. He's not like her, willing to tell everyone at the drop of a dime how she feels about any and everything. That's not to say he hasn't given his opinion before (especially when it's not needed), but she knows this time is different. The atmosphere is changed and something has shifted between them and they've moved past being friends and upgraded to... something else. And while it's freaking terrifying not knowing what that something else is, it's also a kind of... exhilarating. She feels like a huge anchor has been lifted off of her chest and that thought alone makes me her smile a little. He catches her grin, and mirroring it, steps a little closer to her.
"What are you thinking?", he asks, his voice taking on a lower tone. She watches him unfold his arms and he reach for her hands, and she tenses a bit, but once he threads his fingers through hers she relaxes into his touch.
"I'm thinking..." she exhales, "I'm thinking about how happy I am."
"Yeah?" He brings her knuckles to his lips and kisses them delicately.
"And I'm also thinking that I was right."
He laughs. "You were right? What does that mean? What were you right about?"
"You're obsessed with me and you definitely harbor some unlamplike feelings towards me."
She watches a smile spread across his face, and he lets out another warm laugh that makes her stomach flutter just a bit. "Yes, you are right," he answers, moving in closer to her so that he's pressed further into her and she's pressed further into the wall. He brushes a stray hair from her face and allows his fingers to softly caress her cheek, eyes lingering on hers. "I admit to both those things." He leans closer into her and lightly ghosts his lips against hers, not fully engaging in the kiss she wants, but he's gentle and she can feel the heat radiating from him and she loves it. It reminds her of the moment he took after he first kissed her on the plane, because it's things like this that she's never had in past relationships: that full investment in not only her but in them. She wonders if that's what they're in now -a relationship- and suddenly a panic hits her. Oh God. What does this mean for their friendship? What about when they get to work? What do they tell everyone? Everyone's going to have so many questions that's she's not going to have any answers to and she hasn't even oh my god she hasn't even talked to Cliff yet, what is she supposed to tell him, wait she wasn't prepared for this, she's actually kind of terrified right now, what is-
"Min. It's kind of hard to kiss you when your mind is going a thousand miles an hour."
She opens her eyes, not even remembering closing them, and looks at Danny. All this thinking about investment and she's not even here with him right now in this moment that has changed both of them. "Sorry," she whispers sheepishly, leaning her cheek into his palm and sighing.
"I'm sorry, I'm just kind of all over the place right now. I mean...Danny, what are we-"
She's cut off from her thought by his lips again and her mind goes blank in a delicious kind of pleasure. He lays a few more kisses on her lips and then pulls back to look at her again. "Look, I know you have questions", he says, placing his forehead on hers and rethreading their fingers, "but is it possible to put them off for maybe a few hours? I mean, I'm giving you a full on romantic comedy moment here, please let's not ruin it with questions."
A smile peeks through. "A few hours? You're pretty sure of yourself there, Castellano."
"Is that all you got from my statement?" he chuckles, leaning in to kiss her again, this time deepening it, causing her to pull him tighter against her by his t-shirt. Before they both know it, he's lifting her legs around his waist, picking her up and moving her into his apartment. "Wait, my boots," she breathes out, the statement stuck somewhere in between a moan and whimper. "I'll buy you new ones," he replies, slamming the door behind him.
Hi, yes. Is this thing on? Hello all. My name is Dr. Mindy Lahiri and I would like to interrupt your day for just a moment to chat about Danny freaking Castellano. Yes, where to begin. Ah, of course. Firstly- that hours thing? It is not a lie. We have not been bamboozled, nor mislead. In fact, we can not be any closer to the truth. I have some wonderful pain in my lower region that can attest to this, dear citizens, and let me tell you a thing-
"Mindy, how is it that I can hear you talking even when you're silent?"
"Umm, excuse you rude, I was just doing some early morning internal monologuing, and it was about you, so settle down there old man."
She opens her eyes and shifts herself under the arm he has wrapped around her waist to see Danny's face mashed into a pillow. It's a beautiful sight to behold: his hair mussed all over his head, his eyes closed, his upper body delightfully nude and his lower half (sigh) wrapped in a sheet. He looks calm, well-rested- almost like a little boy- and she can't stop herself from reaching out and running her digits through his hair. This causes him to tighten his hold around her, and she feels a shiver run down her spine as he runs his fingers softly across the smooth plane of her back. "You were talking to yourself about me?" he wonders, eyes still closed, which doesn't stop him from moving closer to her and placing his head just under her chin. "What did you say?" he mumbles into her chest. She continues her ministrations through his hair and smiles.
"I'm not going to tell you."
"It's not like I haven't heard you narrate before."
"Yeah but those narrations were pretty PG compared to these."
She can feel him smile against her collarbone and then lay kisses from there all the way up her jaw and across to her ear before placing one on her lips, and for once she doesn't mind the morning breath (that much) of the man lying in the bed next to her (she had to force Casey to get up and brush before any morning activities, she couldn't do it with him). She lets herself be fully enveloped in the kiss, which quickly turns passionate, as his hand moves from her lower back up to her her neck, where his fingers twist into her hair. As their kiss deepens, she allows herself to be immersed in a pleasure she hasn't felt in such a long time- not since the plane at least- and when he rolls her over onto the mattress, him flush on top of her, knee parting her legs, she's sure his touch is going to send her bursting into a trillion little stars- a thought that makes her heartbeat speed up just a little more.
This is all he's ever wanted. This moment right here: her, writhing underneath his palms, his lips on hers capturing all of her sounds, his body crushed against her skin. He would be lying to himself if he said he have never dreamed about it- fantasized about it- and he doesn't have it in himself to start telling lies now, especially when it comes to his feelings about her. All he can do is focus on the here and now of it all: her wrapped around him, him touching every available part of her. The motion of her grinding into him and soft moans emitting from her lips and her hands in his hair; him hardening and not being able to breathe and wanting to devour her. If you would have told him at the beginning of yesterday that this would be how he would be ending his night and starting his morning, not even Springsteen personally delivering the news to him would have made him believe you. He goes for her lips again, kissing her deeply-thoroughly- and she returns the kiss with just as much vigor. His fingers find that spot again- hot, wet, calling to him- and he ghosts them over the bundle of nerves there, causing her to gasp and clench her thighs tighter around his waist. He lifts her hands over her head and pins them there, using his other hand to continue his motions down below, bringing her closer to the precipice, and when she calls out his name almost like a whisper, a prayer, he's positive that he's standing right up there next to her.
"Danny, I... I need..." she moans against his lips and without letting her finish the sentence, he uses his hand to ready himself, and then slowly, deliberately, he presses into her. The feeling of it all causes them both to be momentarily paralyzed with pleasure, but soon they are in motion again once she begins moving her hips against his. He rocks against her, pulling one leg higher around him while the other hand still holds both of her hands above her head. Her gasps and sighs spur him on further, and he finds it hard to maintain focus when she's crying out the way she is, all free and wanton and so damn gorgeous. It's nothing like it was the night before, which was primal and honestly a little bit rough, with all of the grips and scratches and deep plunges. This time around, he's gentle, tender- stroking her deeply and making sure she feels every bit of him. It's a different side of him that he hasn't used in so long and she brings it out of him more often than he cares to admit, especially when she allows him to have his way with her. This is much more than just sex to him, more than just a hookup or a one-night stand; this is his attempt at trying to build something with her past these sheets, past this room. He increases his speed with this thought, and soon they are both plummeting over into bliss. They both allow themselves a moment to breathe in the new atmosphere, and then he rolls them over into a cuddling position, his leg quickly finding the spot between both of hers again.
"What was that about?" she sighs brightly against his chest, tucking herself into his arms.
He smiles against her hair and runs his fingers across her shoulder blades.
"Just giving you something else to talk about."
|I wish everybody knew what's so great about you.|
