She's stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around her body when she hears him call out from the kitchen:

"Hey, you want to do something tonight?"

In that moment she freezes, suddenly super aware of her surroundings. Her standing in Danny's bathroom, water dripping down her shoulders from wet hair. Him out in the kitchen, cooking what smells like blueberry pancakes. Her in Danny's apartment. Her comfortably moving around in this space, as if it all makes sense and it's the way things are supposed to be and they're together as more than just friends. Which they are.

Right?

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. They're clearly more than just friends. They have to be. Like, you don't just spend a night like that together (also a morning, and a little afternoon) without being something more than friends.

And he said he was in love with her, and she said she was in love with him, which she definitely is, so there's that.

Right?

Right?

Oh God. She needs to talk to Gwen asap.

She feels a bead of water roll down her chest and she remembers where she is. She needs to get dressed and she needs to get out of here (after she gets pancakes because, duh pancakes) and she needs to pretend like she didn't just hear what Danny has said to her. So that's what she does. She heads into his bedroom and quickly dresses, throwing on her pants and one of his shirts and then her jacket, and quickly fixing her hair into a bun. She gathers the rest of her clothes and stuffs them into one of his gym bags she sees sitting in the corner of his room and then tosses it on her shoulder. She goes to exit his room but pauses.

She needs a moment.

She doesn't feel right running out of here like this. She knows she needs to talk to Danny about whatever this is, and she knows she needs to talk to Cliff. She just... she can't right now. She's very confused about all of this, because this isn't one of those situations where she can pretend like she knows what she's doing and hope for the best. And she feels like she can't be confused, because why? Why be confused when you know you're in love with someone and you know they're in love with you? That should be the end of it- that should be the correct, fixed, clear answer... right? Yet, it doesn't feel clear right now at all: it feels foggy and thrilling and daunting and great and like too much all at once. Right now, she feels like she's in that freaking Robert Frost poem, you know, the one about two roads in the woods or whatever, and she's terrified about picking the wrong one, because each of them lead to two very different places and each of them take her to two very different versions of happiness. And she doesn't want two different versions, she wants one, the right one where she gets everything. And she knows deep inside how unrealistic that is because this life isn't a romantic comedy but God, can't she catch a break once and just have a happy ending? Christ.

She lets out a sigh and adjusts the bag on her shoulder. If she's being really truly honest with herself though, she thinks she knows what road she would take. But that road is really, really, really scary, and she's terrible at directions and she has a lot of baggage with her and just the possibility that that road might have an end destination that changes everything forever makes her want to run for the freaking hills.

The sound of pots clanging in the kitchen pull her out of her reverie and remind her that she can't stand here forever. She takes one final breath and leaves Danny's room, shutting the door behind her. He's standing at the stove with his back to her, a white tee shirt stretched across his back and a towel thrown over his shoulder, and she's reminded of the morning: the feeling of being wrapped around him, her nails digging into those muscles in his back and their bodies slick with swear and him rocking deep into her...

She needs to get out of here.

She starts to move toward the door but he turns just in time and flashes her that signature smirk of his and for a second everything feels perfect, like this is how it's meant to be. But as quick as that thought arrives, it's gone with just as much speed when she sees his smile disappear.

"Where are you going?" he asks, wiping his hands on the towel and tossing it onto the counter.

Frick.

What is she supposed to say? Oh, you know, I'm just running because I'm scared and confused so if I could get those pancakes to go and I'll see you at work tomorrow or not because I'm probably going to be avoiding you?

She finds herself shifting from one foot to another and looking at the ground, and she hears him move from the counter until she sees his feet appear in front of her.

"Hey." He lifts her chin with his finger and their eyes meet, and there is so much love looking back at her that she doesn't know what to do, she feels suddenly overwhelmed.

"I..." She begins but then he leans down to kiss her and she forgets what she's going to say. He pecks her lips a few times before stepping back and grabbing her hand, leading her to a chair at his table. "Sit," he says and she does, dropping her bag at her feet. He slides a plate over to her covered in eggs, bacon and his famous blueberry pancakes. "I know you must be hungry," he says coming around to sit next to her with his own plate. "We haven't really made time to eat in the past few hours." And there's that damn smile again, and then he's diving into his meal, and she's just sitting there, more nervous than hungry, which he notices.

"What's wrong? Are you not hungry?"

Uh-oh. She feels it coming up and out.

"Danny... what are we doing?"

He chuckles. "Well, I'm eating pancakes. You are not, which is weird because you love pancakes, especially blueberry ones."

"I do love a good breakfast food", she smiles briefly before continuing, "But no, I mean- what are we doing?" She gestures between the both of them.

"We're... eating pancakes?"

"Danny!"

"What?! I'm confused by the question! You just repeated the same thing over again!"

And just like that, she's gotten her answer. She scoots back her chair, grabbing the bag at her feet and then heads for the door.

"Wait, where are you going? What is happening here?"

He's behind her in no time. "Danny," she exhales, turning around to face him. "Perhaps I wasn't clear."

"Yeah, that's why I'm confused."

She shoots him a look causing him to back off a little, and she proceeds. "When I say, 'what are we doing', I mean, what's going on here." He still looks confused and she wonders how a smart doctor such as him can be so dumb, but whatever. "I mean, we're sitting here eating pancakes acting like nothing happened between us, like we don't have a million and one things to discuss."

He's silent now- arms folded across his chest, face pensive- and she knows she's mirroring him. They're at a standstill.

"I know we need to talk," he finally says, his voice taking on a softer tone. She calms a bit and waits for him to continue. He sighs. "I... I know we need to talk about last night and we need to talk about what happened on the plane and I know we need to talk about whatshisface." She lets out a small laugh. He can be such a petulant child sometimes. He runs his hand through his hair and she can feel herself closing the space between them until she's standing right in front of him. "So what are we going to do?" she asks softly. It's a question that has multiple answers and several different outcomes and for the first time in a long while, she feels like they might be on two different pages and she doesn't like that one bit.

"I... I don't know," he responds truthfully. "What do you want to do?"

"Danny please, I can barely pick out an outfit. Do you know how long it took me to decide what color to paint my office? I don't know. You know how I am with options, I want everything."

"Well, you can't have everything this time." And suddenly she's looking up at him and he's peering down at her and something has shifted. She steps back.

"I know." Because she does.

"Look, Min. I told you how I felt last night." She nods, and he seems to struggle with his next words for a bit before he begins again. "I am in love with you and... I want to give this a try. Give us a try. See where it goes." He's looking at her now and it's clear that he's made up his mind and the ball is so obviously in her court and she realizes that that isn't fair- for all the weight to be on her, as if it's easy for her to make a decision.

"Then why did you tell me to go back to Cliff?"

"W-what?"

"You text me that. You said, 'I think you should go back to Cliff'. Why did you say that if that's not what you wanted?"

She can tell that he's flummoxed now, his cheeks turning red and he's running a hand down his face. "Mindy, listen-" he starts but she's too quick. "What were you going to do if I hadn't come over here? If I had actually followed your advice?" Because she honestly does want to know.

"Does that matter now?" he retorts. "Does it matter what would have happened? Or does it matter what did happen?"

"Ummm... it all matters! What would you have done? Huh, Danny?"

"I don't know!" He's yelling now and she's giving it right back to him.

"That's exactly how I feel right now! I don't know either! Less than 48 hours ago I was headed back here to get back with my boyfriend and now I'm here and you're telling me you love me and you want to see where this goes, and part of me is like yes, let's do this, because I'm in love with you too, but the other part of me thought I was in love with Cliff too and those feelings don't just disappear overnight! All of this is just coming out of nowhere and I..." she stops and lets out a sigh, "I don't know, Danny. I'm not sure like you are."

"So what are you saying?" She looks up to see him standing across the room from her and his eyes are boring into hers, waiting for an answer, waiting for her to give him something concrete and... she can't.

"I don't know."

"Stop saying that! That has been said too many times in the past ten minutes. You do know, Min. Do you want to be with me or not?" There's not anger in the question so much as... sincerity. He sincerely wants to know, and she can't give him a sincere answer because she doesn't have one.

"I can't answer that right now." As soon as she says it, she knows it's not what he wanted to hear (hell, she doesn't even know if it's what she wanted to say) and she can hear him wryly chuckle and she sees him shaking his head.

"Danny-"

"No, I..." He lets out a sigh of his own and crosses his arms over his chest. "I get it. It's... it's a lot, like you said. You need some time." She nods again, and swallows the tears she knows are bubbling up in the back of her throat.

"Well, I guess you better figure out then."

It feels like a dismissal, an ending, a blow to the gut, and it's taking everything in her not to start sobbing right then and there. They stay in their respective spots for a moment before she begins moving towards the door, this time actually opening it. She feels like she should say something else- maybe that she'll call him later or something- but she doesn't. She just looks at him one more time and he's looking in the other direction and a little piece of her breaks. She steps out into the hallway and closes the door. Her boots are still in the hallway, so she grabs them and walks to the elevator.

She cries the entire ride down and in the cab all the way home.

|your love is such a swamp

you're the only thing I want

and i said i wouldn't cry about it|