Drake stirred his drink nervously with a straw, waiting for Mindy to arrive at the café. His stomach was churning as he kept looking around hoping to see that she was there. He had been out of rehab for only a few days, and this was the first time he was going to see her since calling her to take him home two months ago. He was scared; he was petrified she wouldn't want anything to do with him, the spark would be lost, and they'd be two ordinary people.

Mindy walked in, looking around anxiously for Drake. She wasn't sure what to expect; Josh had told her that Drake had gone to rehab, but she really had no idea what she was going into. She hoped that he had gotten better and done something for himself. She spotted him, and a shaky grin crept across his face as he waved to her. Mindy felt a smile form as she headed to the table. "Hi," she greeted him, sitting down and studying him. His hair was shorter; it didn't fall in his face quite as much as she remembered, and the hard edge he'd had about him seemed to have vanished. His eyes seemed kinder, more understanding, and he was looking at her like he'd just seen her for the first time.

Drake had just seen her for the first time – he was looking at her through sober eyes. "Hey," he replied, unable to wipe away his smile. Drake took a moment to study her, too. Her hair was a different color, more red, maybe, he decided, and her smile was a little brighter – not as hurt and as dark as he'd remembered her grin being the night she dropped him off at Josh's. "How have you been? You look great." He wasn't sure what to say; the conversation that had previously flowed so easily was at a halt.

"Oh, thanks. You look great, too. I've been good," she said with a nod, running a hand through her hair that Drake was sure was redder than it had been. "What about you?"

"I'm better now, Mindy," Drake assured, looking into her eyes. "Forty two days sober, to be exact." Days used to melt together for him, but now he was acutely aware of every passing second.

Mindy grinned, but she didn't look happy, and Drake couldn't figure out why. He shook the feeling off when she told him, "I'm so glad, Drake. I'm so glad you finally got help."

"It wasn't easy."

"Josh said going to one of those meetings made you crack?"

"Yeah."

A smug, "I told you so" expression colored Mindy's face. She was about to speak when a waitress came over. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"A chai latte," Mindy ordered. "Thank you." The waitress nodded and walked away. "But whatever the reason, I'm glad you decided to get help."

"Me, too." Drake couldn't stop smiling as he realized that his relationship with Mindy was a reality now. They could make it work. They could become something. They could leave their past behind and start anew. They could start a life together. "And I did a lot of thinking when I was there…"

Mindy tucked a short strand of hair behind her ear and folded her hands on the table. "About what?"

"Us."

"Oh, Drake, before you get into that, you should – "

"No, me first," he laughed. "Pretty sure you got to do all the talking last time, so by default, can it be my turn now?"

Mindy chuckled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I guess."

"It was weird. Like, you see that shit on TV about those places, and it's not like you'd think. They make it sound like Lindsay Lohan goes to some luxury hotel for rehab, and it's not like that…it's white walls and it's...prison…"

"I'm not saying it's the same, but I'm pretty sure I can relate better than anyone." She grabbed his hand across the table and gave him sympathetic eyes. "The institution, remember?"

"Oh, that's right," Drake answered, squeezing her fingers gently for comfort. "But yeah, it fucking sucks. And they search you like you're a two year old. There's not much trust happening there. I was so glad to leave. I thought about you a lot, you know, and I was –"

"Here's your latte!" the waitress said cheerily, placing the mug down in front of Mindy.

"Thanks." Mindy was glad the waitress had interrupted; she wasn't sure if she was ready to hear what Drake had to say. At least that bought her a few seconds.

"Can I get you any cream?"

"No, this is fine. Thanks," Mindy told her with a smile, watching as the waitress scurried away.

"Well, I…" Drake sighed, having lost his train of thought. "My guitar was my best friend."

"Did you get your muse back?" Mindy asked happily, taking a sip of her coffee and hoping to get off the subject of them being together.

Drake nodded with a grin. "It took long enough! I finally had inspiration to write, and it was just…it was so awesome to feel like music matters again."

"I knew Spin City couldn't take your love away forever," Mindy retorted knowingly, her nose scrunching up as she smiled at him. She squeezed his hand, realizing that their fingers were still intertwined.

"I didn't really have any inspiration before." He looked down at the table with a bit of a smile. "There was nothing that made me want to write. The songs I wrote, Mindy…they're for you," Drake said, looking up with a bit of reluctance, but staring into Mindy's deep eyes.

"For me?" She pulled her hand out of Drake's grasp in confusion. "You wrote songs for me?"

He nodded, drumming his fingers lightly on the table. "I mean, I wrote a few, and they're not the best or anything like that cause I am kinda out of practice, but for being a little rusty…" Drake laughed mid-thought. "They're not half bad!"

"Drake…"

"I want to play them for you sometime."

His grin was so broad, full of light, and brimming with childlike excitement that Mindy had no idea how to say no. "That would be lovely," she told him, swallowing hard before taking another sip of her drink. "I'd love that."

Mindy then changed the subject as quickly as she could, trying to avoid all conversation about what they could become as a couple. She told Drake about the things that were happening in her life – she'd won a few cases that were extremely difficult, and she was so proud of herself. Her boss had been very happy with her work, too, and that was an added bonus. Drake told Mindy about the interesting characters that he'd met while in rehab and how happy he was to be out; he was beyond ready to start over. He told her about how great it was to be writing more songs and how he hoped to try to resurrect his career thanks to the seed Josh had planted. The conversation flowed so easily, and they were suddenly back to the first night they had reconnected, spilling secrets and catching each other up on lost time.

"Mindy," Drake finally said, pushing away his third glass of Coke – he was far too nervous for actual food – "when are we gonna talk about us?"

Mindy looked down into her second latte – she'd switched to decaf – and cleared her throat. "I guess I inadvertently changed the subject."

"You changed it very vertantly!" Drake declared, sounding impressed with himself that he'd thought of such a quick comeback.

"I what?" Mindy asked, eyebrows perking up in confusion. She wanted to laugh, but she saw the triumph that seeped onto his face; she thought laughing at his expense would've been cruel though it was her initial reaction.

"You know what I mean. You don't want to talk about what's going on with us."

She sighed, taking his hand across the table again. Everything about it felt so right but so wrong. "Drake…"

"Is it because of Josh?" he quipped, looking at her with wide, curious eyes. "Because if that complicates things…I can talk to him because that shouldn't get in the way of us."

"No, that's not it."

"And if it has to do with you being worried that I'll go back into drugs, I promise I won't. It's a struggle, but I won't. I'd never do that to you."

Mindy shook her head and pressed her lips into a thin line. "That's so sweet of you, and I know you won't go back into all of that; I'm sure you'll work very hard at staying clean. But…"

"What's wrong? Is there something you're not telling me?" Drake felt his stomach begin to churn and his heart begin to pound.

"I have a boyfriend."

He barely heard her over the sound of his heart shattering.