Danny was out of breath as he jogged through his front door. It was a brisk evening at the end of December and he had just finished a 6 mile run. He wondered if 2014 could be the year that he tried a marathon. He grabbed his phone on the counter and was surprised that there wasn't yet another text message from Mindy. She had been harassing him since before Christmas to tag along with her on New Year's Eve. She had met a woman in her Zumba class who knew someone who knew someone and Mindy ended up with an invitation to a party 40 floors up in Times Square. According to Mindy, it was going to be the ultimate New Years' experience. Gwen and her husband were going to be there too and Mindy told him multiple times that while she had become a more independent woman, she did not want to be a third wheel. Danny kept declining the offer, but Mindy could tell she was wearing him down and she voiced it to him quite insistently the last time that they saw each other.

Danny sighed. He was going to cave. And Mindy had totally called it. He didn't have plans and the party did sound fun. He called Mindy, but got her voicemail, which was really strange because she was practically attached to her phone. He jumped in the shower and when he came out a few minutes later, he saw that she had just sent a text message: "Can't talk. I'm dying."

Danny was suspiciously curious. There could be something major happening. Or Mindy got a paper cut. It could go either way. He was clean and had to get dressed anyway, so he figured he might as well throw on some nice clothes and head over the Mindy's to see if the party was still on.

He arrived at Mindy's about 30 minutes later and had to knock on the door a few times before she answered. Mindy opened the door and frankly looked like hell. Her clothes were disheveled, her hair was mussed, and if it didn't sound ridiculous he would even say her skin tone was a bit green. She barely squeaked out a greeting before running away from him and he heard violent retching a few seconds later. He closed the door behind him and wandered awkwardly around the living room. He heard running water and could tell she was brushing her teeth.

"Hi," she croaked as she re-entered the living space.

"So, I guess you really are dying."

"I think it's food poisoning. I felt fine earlier, but this started about an hour after lunch. God, I must look disgusting."

"Nah, you look fine."

"You're a terrible liar. I am gross. Oh, and look at you! You look so nice. You're coming tonight, aren't you?'

"Um, Mindy, I hate to be the one to break it to you but I don't think you'll be partying tonight."

He knew she must have felt like crap because she gave in easily. "Yea, I guess so. I was so excited to cap off the Autumn of Mindy! You should go though. I'll give you the tickets. Watch the ball drop. Kiss some random stranger at midnight."

"Nah, I was only going because I knew you'd never let it go if I didn't. If you're not going, there's no point."

"That's kind of sweet," she whispered before her face dropped and her body jolted forward. She made a beeline for the bathroom again.

A few moments later, Danny knocked on the bathroom door, which was slightly ajar. "Min? You OK?"

He heard a soft moan in response and took that as an invitation to ease the door further open. Mindy was lying on the floor beside the toilet. She had thankfully managed to flush it before slumping to the ground.

"No. Can't get up. Leave me. I'll sleep here tonight."

"Sorry, can't do that. Come on, I'll help you."

She stood slowly with Danny's help, but felt dizzy and stumbled a bit as they walked. After a few steps of trying to walk with her, Danny just decided it was easier to pick her up. He walked into her bedroom, placed her gently on the bed after pulling back the covers, and tucked her in. In her foggy state, she couldn't help but think this would be sort-of romantic if she hadn't just puked her guts out. She quickly drifted off to sleep, but only after asking Danny to message Gwen to let her know the change of plans.

Mindy's eyes fluttered open and she immediately looked at the clock, which indicated 11:23 PM. She heard a loud bang in the kitchen and an expletive coming from Danny's mouth. She felt a lot better, though really hungry and still a bit unsteady on her feet when she got out of bed. Her first stop was the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth again. She also combed her hair and changed into different pajamas, which was probably a little silly but she wanted to look better than she felt, even if it was just Danny that would be seeing her.

She tried to sound more chipper than she felt. "Hey, you're still here?"

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Nah, I was waking up anyway. What are you doing in here?"

"Nothing, just making you some chicken soup."

"Oh, you are a godsend. I am starving and that's probably all my stomach can handle right now."

They sat on the couch with Mindy's afghan draped over their laps because she insisted on sharing. Danny had taken off his top layer so he was just in dark jeans and a white t-shirt. Mindy couldn't help but flash back to the time over a year ago now that Danny told her that he noticed how she looked at him when he was wearing a t-shirt. So, sue her; he looked good. Danny flipped to one of the many channels showcasing the New York countdown. They watched for a few minutes before Mindy sighed with disappointment as she saw the exuberant crowds that littered the street.

Danny noticed her reaction. "I know this isn't how you planned to spend tonight."

"That's true, but this isn't so bad…you know, minus the vomit."

"Yea, I'm actually having fun. I usually hate New Year's Eve."

"Dr. Crankypants is having fun?! So all I have to do is get food poisoning, puke multiple times in front of you, and force you to watch bad television. Good to know."

"I still hate Ryan Seacrest though."

"I get that."

They watched TV in the comfortable silence of people who knew each other well enough to not need to fill the space with talking. Mindy's head drifted to rest on his shoulder and something about that just seemed normal. She almost seemed to be asleep, but jolted herself awake at 11:59 PM.

"Alright, it's time. Countdown to 2014!"

Danny indulged Mindy's insistent urging to count aloud: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

"Happy New Year, Danny," Mindy said as she flung her arms around him.

Danny watched Mindy as she returned her eyes to watch the festivities on the TV. She looked so happy. He wished he could enjoy the world in the way that Mindy did so often. Danny had this fleeting urge to kiss her. It felt like those moments on the airplane and in the lounge where his body was telling him to do something that his brain didn't yet understand. It passed as fast as it did before so that by the time she looked back at him, the feeling had faded as quickly as it had come.

"You look happy, Danny."

"Huh?"

"You're smiling. You have a nice smile. You should do it more often."

He stuttered something than sounded like a thank you. He wasn't often surprised, but the thing was that he hadn't even realized he was smiling. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that whatever was happening within him, and between them, was going to get harder to ignore.

He was startled at the feel of Mindy's head on his shoulder again. She sighed softly as her eyes drifted closed. He smiled. She was the only person he knew that could go from asleep to excited and back to sleeping in the matter of minutes. Without thinking, he turned his head to place a gentle kiss on the top of her head. It elicited a small sigh of contentment from her sleeping body and something about that noise made his body both shiver and feel warm at the same time. There was nothing left for him to do really except close his own eyes and rest his head on hers.